


Their own

by AYG (DoingHerBest)



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Daydreaming, Determination, Dragon Age: Inquisition Spoilers, Fluff and Angst, Illustrations, Multi, My First Fanfic, Panic Attacks, Self Confidence Issues, Veilfire, canon-divergent, it's more complicated than that, not sure if romance, the more i think about it the less fluffy it gets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-20 06:49:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 40,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8239922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoingHerBest/pseuds/AYG
Summary: Just your average solavellan fic. Except Lavellan brought a friend over from the clan and the point of view is shared between several characters. Trying to be canon-divergent.





	1. Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thank you for dropping by,  
> this is the first chapter of my very first fanfic, I hope I will manage to convey my thoughts and feelings properly.  
> Up to now I was only drawing them, not writing. But I intend to use this special skill to depict some parts of the story. I'll draw illustrations and also little comics every now and then.  
> For this first chapter, [have an inked character design of the two original ladies](http://amburuthings.tumblr.com/post/151516565789).  
> I'll add tags as they come up !

« Okay, here's the plan. » The elf said, absent-mindedly pushing a strand of her light brown hair over her right shoulder, piercing the wide sheet of paper lying on the ground in front of her with her sparkly green eyes. One could tell from her voice that she was fairly excited. She was endlessly fussing with her hands all around, eager.

« We part here ! »

« What ? Wh- » was answered, another person looking confusedly at what was actually a map of the frostback mountains, but didn't get the time to protest properly as she got interrupted right away.

«Geez, let me finish. We were asked to keep an eye on this conclave-shemlen-gathering-thing : it's going to be filled with their mages and templars that have been fighting this whole time, there's every chance that it's not going to settle peacefully, right ? And I don't believe you'd suddenly grown fighting skills overnight am I wrong ? » Half a joke, but also half dead serious. Because of these two factions their whole world was at war now. Had it ever been at peace anyway ? But this time chaos was absolutely everywhere, even dangerously approaching the deepest parts of their peaceful forest, it had to stop before burning the whole Thedas down to mere ashes and icicles. Was it really necessary to go this far to settle accounts ? It was more complicated than that, but still.

« But look, there, » she added, pointing at the map. It read HAVEN. « this village is located right next to the temple, that's where you're going. I bet there's going to be a -lot- of interesting stuff to get from this place as well. We have your unsuspicious ears, let's take advantage of that, it's perfect : two rocks, two birds, at the same time. What d'ya think ? »

It was the first real adventure for the two of them, they had been given a very important task. Depending on the outcome of these negociations, the fate of clan Lavellan could go in diametrically opposed directions. The other girl slid a fingertip along the edge of one of her ears, round. That was one of these rare times she was glad she had them. 

« If you say so... » she said, smiling softly.

« Of course, » a bright laugh « just trust me, Aelen, it's going to be alright, as it's always been. »

And thus after discussing a few minor details and praying Dirthamen to guide them both, they parted. The round-eared one stood still for a while, staring at the back of her elfy friend, hastily moving forward to the so-called Temple of Sacred Ashes. Soon enough the quick footsteps and swaying bow disappeared from her sight, and she turned her head, throwing a glance in the direction of the place she was assigned to. The elf was going to be fine, Aelen trusted her unconditionally, with her unrivaled wit and determination she was always able to manage in any kind of situation, even the most desperate. She glared at the bits of fences and rooftops she could discern through the mist. Willingly entering a village full of humans all by herself, far from the reassuring presence of her bright and capable friend, she wasn't exactly looking forward to that. But she thought it was probably better that way indeed, while the other one was a skillful rogue who no one there would even notice at all to begin with, sadly, she couldn't say the same of herself. No, her blending in with the human crowd down there was clearly the best idea. This was something only her could do, she was going to be useful instead of a burden. This unknown feeling, a mix of both warmth and sudden pressure, was enough to get her on march. Almost confident.

On the road, she couldn't help but look back at the mountain every now and then. They'd spent the whole journey from the Free Marches to that place taking detours and hiding still and breathless in bushes for hours to avoid all of these small-scale battles between templars and mages, they'd seen what they were capable of and it was terrifying. She was glad she wasn't getting any closer to this conclave full of both of those but couldn't bear the thought of the other girl about to risk her own life there, how could she be so self-assured and fearless ?

*Please, Ellana...* she whispered to herself, grasping the fabric above her heart, *please be safe.*

* * *

Aelen wasn't even at the gates yet and she'd already almost bumped into dozens of armored humans running in all directions. Ellana was right, the temple wasn't the only place busy with the ongoing meeting. The girl inhaled deeply, and then rushed inside, dodging as many restless bodies as she could. Just like they had expected, no one bothered to pay even the least amount of attention to her and she was able to enter the village ridiculously easily. The gaze of the guard slipped past her as if she wasn't even there and her anxiety finally dropped back to a reasonable level. Everything was probably going to be alright for her. Good.

The very second her feet crossed the door, she was immediately all eyes and ears. She started strolling at the slowest pace along the streets, looking 'distractly' at as many things as she could, eave-dropping every conversation coming by her while she was suddenly on her knees picking grass and little rocks, endlessly rereading this poster next to the tavern, or even retying her black hair in her side ponytail over and over, anything to make her seem busy and belonging, even if she had actually no idea what she was doing. Most of what she gathered was without interest or already known to the Lavellans. The war had been awful, so awful their andrastian leader bothered to order a cease-fire and arrange a meeting at the temple to find a way to put a stop to the fights. Given the amount of micro-battles they'd met only on their way there, it hadn't been very successful so far. The girl wished they would indeed come to an arrangement, if only for the safety of her friend and a peaceful way home a few days later. She wouldn't give a crap about shem geopolitics hadn't it had an impact on everyone else's lives. She sighed. Shems.

Right when she was starting to entertain these resentful thoughts and paying a bit less attention to her surroundings, she collided with a tall body at a corner. An elven man, a really tall elven man. How had she not seen him coming ? Flustered, she immediately bowed at him « Please excuse-me, hahren, I wasn't loo- » she stopped mid-sentence, realizing what she'd just said, mortified. She could already feel it : 'Local human girl bowing at elf, addressing him as honored elder'. That was not how one would keep a low profile. Well done, stupid.

Fortunately it seemed said hahren wasn't paying attention either. He quickly mumbled, barely looking at her « It is fine da'len, the blame is mine. » then he stepped aside and went back to his full-speed pace. She was lucky everyone was so busy, or she'd been so long-busted. She sighed again, this person had assumed she was just yet another elf. The place was full of them, probably all servants. The girl gave an inner furious look at the first new shem in sight. Low gazes, bended backs, making themselves as small as possible, the depressing portrait of every single elf trying to survive in human society. Her heart was feeling heavier with every new one she met, so many, and her anxiety raising back, slowly but steadily.

'Fortunately', her chaotic trail of thoughts got interrupted, as her tour of the city had to stop mid-way.

The ground was trembling ? She laid yet another anxious gaze on the mountain, without thinking. Far from ready for what was coming.

* * *

Haven. Elves everywhere. He was to blame for most of it. As today was _The Day_ , agents had been deployed massively through the whole area. In the general chaos, no one seemed to have noticed his actions and he took the opportunity to check on his 'helpers' as much as he could. He prefered this term to 'followers' even if he knew it would have been more accurate, probably. All of them, elves he'd freed, offered shelter to in the mere year he'd been awake, all he ever wanted to do was to give people wisdom, but of course, as now expected from his fate, it wouldn't happen. He yet again ended up as the leader of a secret elven organisation, giving orders, receiving kneelings instead of handshakes, obeyed instead of surrounded. He sighed. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. All of them, they had been serving him well in these few months, just like _They_ had a long time ago, and today their lives were probably going to meet their ends as well, as the operation would succeed. As the world would finally return as it was, whole, as it should have always been if not for...

He wished he could just stop thinking about all of this, battles of the past, old successes and failures, the long road he'd still to walk, alone, forever, he was exhausted to the bone. He wanted to stop thinking about that, to allow himself to simply be Solas once again, to get some actual rest, to forget... He stopped there, as he always did. This trail of thoughts, he's been having it again and again for weeks, he knew every part of it by heart, every feeling, and the conclusion was always the same : who would remember any of them if not him ? So he shook his head, chasing away these fantasies once again and went back to using whatever little time remaining to walk up to his agents one last time and make sure he had properly carved their very beings into his millenias-old memory, with all the others.

He was heading to the stables when he felt a small mass crashing into him. Apologies, honorifics, bow. He didn't know he could feel even sicker than he already was, he didn't deserve any of those, not now, not ever. He who destroyed the world twice. Who suspected 'what had to be done' could raise this amount of self hate ? Hah. He quickly glanced at the bowing thing. Not one of his, girl sure didn't pick the right time to drop by. He did pause for half a second when he noticed she wasn't actually elven, or was she ? He couldn't afford any of this, their time was running out, whatever was she –not that he didn't already have a few ideas on the matter– this poor girl was going to die within the next hour anyway. So he simply moved past her and got back to his dreadful activities, 'I'm so sorry for everything' secretly drippling from all over his soul.

But suddenly, his own time stopped. He'd just felt his orb, but... it was different. *No* he thought, frozen on his feet, and the next moment it became an internal yell. Corypheus had taken action as planned but... Something was off. His guts suddenly twisting as a very bad feeling took over his senses.

He swallowed hard. He could feel it. The plan. It was about to fail

Again

He was already rushing towards the very-soon-to-be remainings of the conclave in infinite fade steps as the ground started trembling, and half the mountain, up to the very veil, shattered before his lifeless eyes a second later.


	2. Shelter

For an instant, the world was coming to an end. Earth and fade screaming along in spliting stones and slashing skies, the temple fading in a distant memory of what used to be, now blasted away. Aelen closed her eyes and covered her face with both her arms before she could even think, and when she reopened them right after, she couldn't believe to see it all gone, a huge part of the mountain, of the surrounding trees, of the... of the skyyyy ? A giant green scar had formed right over the location the Conclave was being held at.

*Ellana !!* was the first thing coming to her mind, and she dashed onwards immediately, while most of the villagers were still frozen in shock. It took them a few more seconds to realize what had happened and to start screaming as well and running away in panic. Crossing the gates in the other direction was a difficult task as hundreds of people were trying to find shelter whithin Haven's fences. She managed to slip through, along the wall, and made as much progress as she could before almost falling into an opening rift, not even far from the main entrance.

*Wha-* she got pulled away by a firm grip on her shoulder. Bare blade, heavy armor, short black hair, thin crown braid.

« What are you still doing here ? Go hide in the chantry ! »

« But... »

Furious eyes, « Chantry. NOW. »

The girl took a few steps backwards as terrifying creatures –most likely demons– burst from the small bright hole, so bright it was dazzling, the screeches of the creatures deafening, and the warrior let out an enraged disgusted noise before running to battle head first. A moment later, a handful of guards had joined the fight and they managed to keep the demons repelled, but as they killed them, more kept appearing one after the other in an endless stream of foggy nightmares.

She hadn't moved, couldn't move, her dying brain weighting over her whole being. « There's every chance that it's not going to settle peacefully, right ? » Once again her friend had been right. Why did she always have to be right ? And what exactly were the chances of there being any survivors from... that ? Aelen felt like crying, there was nothing left of that place, of the location she had ventured into. And she wasn't even able to go looking for her. What if she were still out there, miraculously, stuck under a rock or something like that, and no one –not even her– were there to help her escape ? She was plain crying now, the lead warrior noticed it and sent a guard to escort her to the gate before charging up to the temple when enforcements arrived to secure the position and go scouting the area for both survivors and _explanations_.

* * *

After the slowest of walks for a distance about 400 meters long, she finally reached the chantry. In the building, a woman in robes took her hands and got her sat on the cold stone, near a pillar. She wrapped her arms around her knees and stayed just like that in complete silence for what felt like a lifetime, desperately calling for the dear name, in thoughts, between two sets of weeps, over and over. What would she do now, what could she even do now, without her ? She'd been following her everywhere for years, relied on her for most things if not every single thing. How would she go back to the clan ? And the very next thought, 'would she even go back to the clan'. Her terror drilled even further in her heart, every single muscle tense, eyes burning, choking on her own breath. Agonizing.

At his moment, chants started, when she had gathered a sufficient amount of her senses back, she realized they were Andrastian. She was in a chantry after all. She decided on lifting her head to brush her gaze soflty over her surroundings. She had no idea of what her looks were like, but it was probably just as bad as the people in there. There were almost no soldiers, and thus all she could find next to the few red and white standing forms were human merchants, human villagers, and in a remote corner, elven people. Of course they had been physically separated in these exact categories as humans always did, and if the differences weren't so bad between the first two, the last group definitely stood out as miserable in comparison, right from their respective attire. Of course, she'd been dropped within the human crowd. She suddenly felt sick. Whoever blew up the temple (could shems just stop blowing their stuff up already ?) mage or templar or whatever, she was yet again in such intense distress because of them. A desperate anger seized her. She discretely moved closer to the elven crowd, implicitly pretexting she needed some room to look for something inside her giant bag, and –creators– did shemlens leave room between their precious butts and their poor servants'. *They're working for them every single day, damn it.*

Almost among them now, she felt a bit better, but her broken heart tightened again when she did open her bag for the sake of coherence. Both their stuff, Ellana's and hers, were lying there, staring at her, accusing and despondant. She gave up on digging in and held it all close to her chest. At this point, her even coming back at all, even badly wounded, was probably... just a dream. She wanted to hope, wanted with all her might, but couldn't bring herself to. She'd seen how bad it was, even from afar, and then, demons... She started weeping again. Because she was so weak, Ellana had to go there alone. Could she have protected her, had she had any fighting ability ? Any ability at all ? At least they would have died together then. The endless loop of self hate took her again, harshly, and she crushed her face against her bag, back to hiding from everything around her, religious chants in the distance the only thing remaining of the terrible reality. It was echoing through the whole room as her whole self. She hated them but it did have a soothing effect, note after note, and when she was done crying herself out, nothing left of her own soul inside, it did offer some presence, to drift along, to stop suffering, thinking, being. She stayed like that for hours.

Eventually the doors opened again, greeting soldiers, wounded, getting her furiously hoping for the impossible, again. But as they talked she realized very fast that they had only been fighting against demons and weren't survivors from the explosion. Haven was still secure so far, and a lot of them needed immediate tending and prayers, so the chantry sisters asked the civilians to move back outside if they could. No one looked surprised the slightest when the whole elven pack stood up and started leaving in the next second. She did the same, her sleepy legs almost making her fall on the spot, but a passing elf seized her right away and helped her keeping in balance. In return she gave them an overly grateful look that they obviously hadn't been expecting at all. It was only making her even sadder.

« Thank you... » she finally managed to whisper once they had both stepped outside. They gave her another confused stare and bowed to her « That was nothing. » « No, » she answered, pausing as she released her grip on their arm and let it slowly glide back in place, dead weight just like the rest of her. She couldn't bear glancing at the crater and forcefully drilled her eyes into the ground, small stains of red on the places where snow still remained, white stripes over the chaotic mud. The place was a mess. As she was, exhausted. « That was everything. »

At that, a voice yelled all the way from the main gate : « SURVIVOR »

Her head snapped in its direction and It opened on an unconscious Ellana, mysteriously glowing on a small stretcher.

Her heart missed a beat.

* * *

The explosion was absolutely part of the plan. That it had to occur near so many people was regrettable, but for the complex task of reshaping the world, it had proven necessary to him. The power contained in the orb did live up to his expectations as well, such raw power, it even tore up his veil by itself. But now its feeling was gone, dead. No more orb, no more corypheus, no more anything. The strong aura, this well-known tingling from just a minute ago, so dear to him, tied to countless precious memories from the oldest ages, it had now completely disappeared. What could have possibly happened ? Was the orb... destroyed ?

Solas shook his head again, his people was counting on him, desperately but unfaltering, as it'd been since the dawn of times, he had been through so much on this mission of his, he couldn't just leap to the conclusion that everything was lost forever right now. So he started looking for it, his 'foci', would it be intact or shattered in pieces, whatever the case he _had_ to lay his hands on it, at the very last. Whatever the outcome, there would be plenty of time to drown in despair, later. Instead of getting discouraged by the amount of scattered stones and shards, he started probing it all for magic, his heart pinching a bit more every time his eyes lingered a little on fade rocks. It was so real, and his goal had never felt so close. He picked one of the smallests and decided to keep it with him, certain that his sentimentality would be the end of him, someday.

He was close to the main rift at the center of the late Conclave, he made an effort not to be noticed by the few soldiers that had just reached the place, fighting so many spirits, painfully corrupted in the shock, while a few other humans were looking for survivors. Of course there were none.

It was a disaster on both sides, he had to put an end to all of this, the sooner the better. But then, as if fate itself was mocking him, yet another unpredictable thing happened, it was never ending. Someone. Fell. From the fade. _Someone bearing his anchor_. His mind was racing in all directions. They were no Corypheus, then, who ? And how did this happen ? He hid and carefully studied the scene. If his anchor was there did that mean Corypheus managed to enter the Fade with the orb but failed to get his hands on the key ? Was there a chance to keep the situation from escalating to Most Hopeless Nightmare or was it already game over for all of them ?

The person was elven, he had to hold his heart in cringe.

As he immediately suspected, the humans were fast to hold them as guilty of the tragedy and wanted to take them in custody, the small elf fell unconscious, exhausted, right before they could lay a finger on her. *These fools don't even know anything, yet...* he mumbled to himself. He had to think quick, before one of them would want to irresponsibly behead them to avenge the death of their religious leader. They didn't have the time to think about any of it as new demons spurted out of that rift, leaving the soldiers quickly outnumbered and overwhelmed. Solas jumped into the fight then, displaying a fair amount of power from the sorry staff he had picked up on his way up. He couldn't stay out and risk losing anything any longer. He raised small barriers around the most exposed warriors and froze as many demons as he could so that they would get easily crushed into billion of pieces at the next strikes. Before others came, the one who was wearing the emblem of the Seekers of the Truth shouted for retreat. No one questionned it and they all withdrew right away, two of them carrying the survivor, glowing blindingly. Had she been awake, she would have been screaming in pain, Solas assumed while tailing them closely. Only he could have born his own spell unharmed.

When they were far enough, the Seeker snapped at him. This could become very difficult very easily. He bitterly prepared himself to kill them all and run away with the sleeping casualty on his back, taking the first eluvian to his headquarters, to rethink the _plans_ properly, again.

« Who ARE you and what were you DOING there ? You are an apostate, aren't you ? »

« Technically all mages are now apostates. My name is Solas and I am just a mere wanderer whom travels have allowed to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any circle mage. This breach is most likely a very serious matter and I wish to offer whatever help I can give, for the sake of all. »

She narrowed her eyes, trying to read through him, considering but strongly suspicious. Who could blame her for not trusting a random stranger, for not trusting _him_.

« That sounds very welcome indeed, and you do seem quite capable, but why should we trust you, mage ? »

Unpleasant memories crawled back into him, and he tried his best to suppress them. The outcome of this exchange was way too important for him to suddenly get lost within his usual melancholy.

« Whether you do trust me or not, I think it is for you to decide, from acts, not words, » he got a bit closer to the elf, moving an arm in the direction of her left hand, the mark crackling in tiny fade embers, a faint presence he was always longing for, mesmerizing, it felt like home.  « And for now I wish to examine this person, I believe the mark they are bearing could be related to that breach in the sky. If it is not closed, we are probably all doomed regardless of origins. »

The warrior sighed, perplexed. « Very well, it doesn't look like we have any better option anyway. We will need any information we can get, let's retreat to Haven for now, you may _show_ us these acts but _I_ will make sure to keep an eye on you. » She paused.  « Personally. I, Cassandra Pentaghast from the Seekers of the Truth. »

« Thank you very much Lady Pentaghast. »

« Urgh, please. If we are working together, just call me Cassandra. Let's not waste any more time here, this breach seems to be growing by the minute »

« It is. »

It went much better than expected. The Seekers of the Truth were an order of people of reason and this lady had just lived up to the story. Revealing oneself as an apostate –worse : an elven one– to a soldier in such troubled times would certainly sound unwise, but it was the quickest way to assure of the survival of bearer of the anchor, and with them what could have been their last chance to prevent the world from crumbling on itself at the hands of a foolish would-be-god. He was dumbfounded at the irony of his situation. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. He pested internally. In the end he hadn't been able to sense any remaining sign of Corypheus nor his precious orb, and hoped the elf would live until he could get to understand what had just happened, at last. Could it be that Corypheus managed to survive at the last moment ? *No, impossible.* he dismissed this thought right away and started drawing on his mana as demons appeared in the way of the little group. There sure was much to do to repair this new mistake. Always so much to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg I had to force myself to stop because my draft was no where near covered even with all this text !  
> It's my second chapter, I'm glad it's going well. I'm glad I can actually put sentences together in a coherent way. I feel so relevant.  
> Thank you for hitting ♥ I'm very happy that I'm making this and I wish to be able to continue for a long time and reach my favourite planned parts !   
> (At this pace I won't reach that point before da4 comes out... Hey, would it be so bad actually ?)


	3. Helplessness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turmoil everywhere, rest so far away

Aelen couldn't draw her gaze away from the small group, hurt and tired but relieved to be able to make it back to camp. She wasn't the only one : the whole village was staring at them, and even moreso at her friend, alarmingly floating in threatening green sparks. Still. 

She was alive, right ? 

The crowd was fast to divide and let them through, fear greatly overtaking any curiousity, invading the side street where she was trying to stand, elves all gone in an instant. The warrior from before, closely followed by the tall hahren she had 'met' earlier, lead them across Haven, ignoring the countless eyes weighing on them. It was hard to see anything with so many people around, but the girl managed to gather fragments of images of them putting Ellana in an empty stash, a lot of sooldier arms moving a lot of things, and the door finally closing on the green light, fading right away. 

*What... what are they going to do ?* It looked like her friend was about to explode any second from this... thing on her arm. *What happened ?* *Is she hurt ?* Endless questions crushing her mind as the numerous pressing bodies were crushing her breath. She wanted to scream, take Ellana on her back and run away from this place, this mission was never supposed to turn out like this, it was about eavesdropping on the argument held at the conclave and going back to deliver their report, nothing more. When had things gone so wrong ? She couldn't remember any second of it. There was nothing there, only gusts, torrents, shivering.

Whispers, surrounded her then, growing louder and louder, poking her head until it could no more stay lost in the well known raging of inner storm.

« What's with this knife-ears » « They said it comes from the fade » « Whaat?! » « It must be a demon ! » « They brought a demon here ?? » « An abomination ! » « I'm not staying here » « But there are demons outside » « They're everywhere » « What were they thinking getting it in ? » « Is it a demon then ? » « The explosion, it has to be its doing ! » « It killed the divine ! » « Vengeance ! » « It's going to possess us ! » « Maker have mercy ! »

It wasn't long before the whole town was fussing in whispers, that quickly grew into screams, to the point some soldiers and chantry people had to step in and try to calm them down, but no one had any idea of what was happening and thus their attempt was only met with poor success.

People did walk away though, far from this stash, and when the crowd had fully melted off, there was only a small pile of messy hair and tears left, alone, freezing on the mud, curled up in a ball, face on lap, hands on ears. Aelen had to do something, she had to, think, she couldn't, empty head, the ghosts of the bodies, so many bodies, all over her, overwhelming, the whispers endlessly echoing in, relentless, angry whispers, barking at her, at them both. She had to do something, they could kill Ellana, but they could also kill her if she revealed herself, she knew it, she had to do something but... there was nothing to be done, ha, she couldn't even move any longer.

She felt a hand on her back, and she stopped being, convinced it was going to end her life right then, just like that. There was no one to save her this time. She was so helpless, just- But the hand didn't move, it only kept being, laid there, soft but firm. It was soon joined by another one, and a low voice asking something, about being alright, going to some place and how quiet it was there. She recognized the bit of clothing that slid into her field of view, it seemed to be the same elven person that helped her stand up right before. It soothed her just a little, she simply nodded to whatever they were saying, too exhausted and broken apart to process anything at all, and she somehow found herself laid on a thin bedroll, in what she believed was a large cabin from a remote area of the village, right next to the farthest fence. It was quiet indeed, it seemed to be the place where the servants were sleeping. Quiet, nothing to get her distracted from her agony, but also nothing to worsen it. Not such a bad deal.

A blanket appeared on her shoulders, silently covering her back, hovering over her head. Then another one. She closed her eyes, so thankful, yet she couldn't voice any of it. She brought her head to her knees, fell slowly to the side and stopped being, just like this. Enough, that was. Enough, nothing good would come out of this. It was over for today, this day at least. She wouldn't help anyone like this. She knew it, the only thing to do at this moment, to let go.

She did, crashing asleep, hard, so hard she almost splatted on the veil. Her soul shattered across the fade. Dreamless.

* * *

The things one could get from daring and assertiveness. On their way down, he had successfully convinced Cassandra into getting almost everything he'd ask for, and he didn't miss the chance to take full advantage of this opportunity : his own space, potential privacy was he to handle things well he was sure, also any available equipment he would need, absolutely everything. The only favour he couldn't be offered was of course the most critical off all : time. He had none, the anchor was reacting terribly to the unexpected host and he had to act fast, he could _feel_ the lifeforce of the small elf fading away, steadily.

The seeker didn't have to say a word to get the impressive crowd to clear the way. They were all staring at them in terror. He could take guesses at what they were thinking but chose to ignore it, bitterly realizing how they had been just a faceless mass of moving soon-to-be-corpses a few moments before, Thedasians. He almost growled. He briefly made eye contact with a few of his agents, of course they were way calmer then the rest of the crowd, waiting for the new directives. Orders. Everything had gone so wrong, the sight was burning. His long list of utter failures.

He didn't wait for more than a minute for his assigned cabin to get prepared, the little group of soldiers was well coordonned and his -almost- every needs went gathered right away, his 'patient' laid on a mat, and the door shut behind the seeker, and him. She leaned on a wall, arms crossed.

« Please do as if I weren't here, I won't interrupt as long as it's not needed. »

« Most certainly, thank you for your help, I shall start immediately, I can tell this is going to be difficult. »

This unwanted presence was actually bothering him greatly, but the warrior was undoubtly powerful and wasn't to be taken lightly. For as long as she was going to stick to him, he would have to keep his guard heavily raised as he was in no position to try them at the moment. He could sense that a few templars had been deployed aswell, cornering the wooden walls. He was still quite weak and the first mistake could be the end of him, or at least get him hurt greatly before he could escape with his people. Because he was mind and soul bound to his agents, nothing would have been possible without them and he owed them greatly, they would only meet their ends with the plan succeeding and nothing else, he had sworn this. A very old vow.

« Please just do what you can, that would already be plenty. No one here is versed in such arcanes. »

To this he simply nodded and went to the lying body. Hovering his mana over the anchor, his heart tightened as he got confirmed that the anchor wouldn't comply to just leave its host. And there was no way said host could get through such a spell. It was bad. Ideally he would have made their arm crumble away, but he couldn't simply give up on his last ray of hope in this nightmare of a present. Because there was absolutely no other way now and that was crystal clear to him.

The seeker watched him silently, efficiently causing minimal interference, as he studied the mark, muttering a few things about having never seen such magic and feeling a strong connection to the fade every now and then for the sake of his cover, carefully trying to soothe and tame the chaotic distorsions that were coming out of it. Had he not been there, the anchor would have turned the whole being into a giant rift by now, fueled from their spirit until it disappeared. Such a thing would have caused prolonged agony until the moment both died out, he couldn't even think about it, he was glad he had been able to make it to the temple in time. In this complete chaos, there were still these small depressing things to rejoice in.

One of his entered the room, bringing food. It had been a while since he'd set to work, and work it was. The angry magic was fierce and strong, just like it was supposed to be, all perfect for him to use, reshaping the whole world out. Now drilled into someone else's hand as the wrongest of outcomes. He nodded at the agent, his hands stuck on the spell they were casting, so Cassandra went and took care of it. He simply gave them a knowing look while the warrior was looking away. He needed to report to them all soon. But not now. The agent bowed slightly and left. They had certainly been able to get a fair idea of the whole situation in this simple instant and were sure to tell the others, that was a good thing. He was so relieved he could still count on these lost souls, despite his deep feelings of helplessness.

After a few moments, Cassandra finally spoke, for the first time in hours :

« Are you not going to eat ? »

« The mark has calmed down for a bit... But this will take more time. Probably the whole the day and night at least. I would not risk our greatest chances for the sake of appetite. _I_ am sure to survive this » he swallowed hard  « the same is not to be said of... » his eyes went to their face. Dalish, modern variation of June's old markings, very young. So very young, there was no justice. He gritted his teeth.

« Don't say it, I understand, fine. I will be off then. There are going to be soldiers guarding the door, but I doubt they will be needed, you seem to know what you are doing and you have not betrayed us so far. Still I know better than to give trust away just like this... » She laid a piece of bread on the small table right next to him. « … I will be back shortly, please try to eat in the meantime. We can't have you collapsing at such critical times. Were you to prove trustworthy, you could become an irreplaceable ressource. »

« Your concern for an elven apostate is admirable. I will try not to. »

« Well, right. » She sighed. « I will tell everyone not to bother you as long as you present no threat. »

And with this, she left. Such a kind heart tied to a strong will and sense of justice : the qualities of a great leader. It was great comfort that he was dealing with such a fine mind. He disctactly munched on the bread while scribbling notes on the advancement of the elf's condition. It was slow but he was managing to get the situation stabilized somehow. Their heart had stopped beating at such an alarming pace and they weren't sweating as much anymore. On the other side, he had to pour a great deal of mana to get a grip on the anchor and it was deeply trying. Of course he wouldn't allow himself for any complaint. Cassandra went back with water, which had him much thankful for. So kind, really.

It was late in the night when these green eyes finally flickered open.


	4. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Painful mornings

She woke up dead. There was light on her face. Heavy rays firmly beating her down, merciless. She offered no resistance and didn't move an inch, didn't bat a single lash. Lying body like a corpse, probably cold as one. The frostback mountains bore their name for a reason.

Aelen could feel quiet bustle around her, shoes softly scraping the floor, clothing quivering, low breath and voices surrounding. There was a lot of agitation outside as well, it seemed awfully noisy there, she could hear from afar. She felt hidden and safe on her small bedroll far from any trouble, everyone busy with their respective stuff, she wasn't requiered anywhere, there were chances no one was even paying any attention to her blanketted form. She considered staying right there forever.

But she couldn't. Ellana, she was there, maybe waiting for her, if she was still alive. The girl wouldn't even risk thinking about this, an empty silence far preferable to another breakdown, and as she emerged, she kept her inner voice shut in some very far away place of her mind, behind half a dozen iron doors, tighlty locked inside, protected, unwelcome. She got up.

Aelen managed a few steps in the mud, it was so very cold in the morning, she knew but could barely feel it. As she had been able to get to know the village the day before, she didn't have to poke her brain on to find her way to the infamous alley, where this cabin was standing. Of course it was empty, door wide open showing no life inside, when she arrived nearby. She didn't think anything out of it. The course of action was obvious there : lean against a wall, stare into the nothing, wait for rumours to reach. It took very little.

They had left early in the morning : 'glowing elf, tall elf, lady seeker, annoying dwarf and a bunch of soldiers', their words. Apparently her friend went from mass murderer to potential prophet overnight, when had shemlen ever made sense anyway ? But this was plenty to her : Ellana : breathing. Shemlen : not killing her just yet. She hated knowing her near that angry thing in the sky, but there were lots of people with her, probably the same that had brought her back in the first place, and she was supposed to do something about the breach ? How so ? The girl believed she could probably do basically anything but now this was something entirely different. There was so much she didn't know. She hated not knowing, it always made her feel powerless. Not that she would feel particularly powerful otherwise, but it was making it worse.

Great clouds went through her senses and she fell her strenght leaving her behind, numb, the wind wasn't helping. Never quitting the half blackout state, she got carried by her legs all the way back to the bedroll. Such a tiny thing, home at this moment. She had no idea what people were doing around her or if there were any at all in the first place, she just slowly dived in, arms tangled around her – their – backpack. The familiar dizziness taking her whole in its sweet embrace. The kind call of daydreams, where everything was harmless, deep waves of calm and warmth, flowing around her mind, thoughts and pictures floating in endless serenity, raw feelings surrounded by the comforting, everlasting void, where time felt like a lie. Her very last shelter. Soon it was growing inside, claiming every part of her, and she let go until she was nothing but her breath. Her body, so heavy, she couldn't move anymore had she had wanted to, solid as if it was merging with the floor. There, still as wood, the slow flow of pastel colours and mild emotions that only belonged to her were passing through, peaceful. Being. 

She could cease to exist. Nothing mattered right then. Breath.

* * *

* * *

She woke up dead. Thanks to her elven eyes, she managed to catch a quick overview of her surroundings in the obscurity. Small room. Bed. People, hovering.

« Can they speak ? »

She opened her mouth, then closed it. She needed to understand before doing anything. It was a matter of survival, her instincts were screaming at her. It was so dark, plain night. The many furnitures and items of the room she was in highlit by the dim light of some remote candles.

« Their vocal cords are not damaged, this shoud not be an issue. »

« Stay here and watch her, I have someone to get. » and with this, Cassandra ran off the room.

Of course Solas had every intention to keep his whole focus on her. She was confused, every muscle hurting badly, but was soon getting curious, then alarmed at the calm green haze that was coming directly out of her. Who wouldn't. That it was being so mild then was a tiny miracle, or more accurately, the well-deserved reward of hours of struggle on his behalf. He hoped it would stay like this even only for a while.

« Do not panic, you are under the influence of a powerful spell. Your life is not endangered... For now. » he shook his head. The poor creature was doomed regardless, he knew it all too well.

« I... I don't... »

« Take your time »

Ellana took a deep breath, but couldn't calm her rising panic. Slowly realising : « I don't remember... anything. » And hating every part of it.

That's when the seeker came back, alongside with a hooded redhaired, the notorious Leliana, a hero of what Thedasians had called the Fifth Blight. He'd seen her many times in the fade, left hand of the divine it was no wonder she was there together with Cassandra Pentaghast, the right hand. And to think that of course they would all meet at such a place, in such circumstances, fate really was not as random as one would think. Well, except for... He left his stool and moved away, as he assumed his important guests would probably need the space. He was very curious at how this would play out, and prepared himself to intervene if necessary. This one could be the most important life on Thedas at this instant.

« You, explain yourself now. » Cassandra let on an icy tone. That seemed bad.

« Explain what ? »

« Don't play dumb with me. The explosion, why ? Hundreds of people died, the Divine died ! And then you come out of the fade, with demons. Explain. »

« I... _what_ ? Explosion ? I was... ? I don't remember. There were demons and... then... a woman ? »

To this the hooded woman stepped in : « Please calm down Cassandra, they've just woken up. A woman ? Could it be... »

« Don't be ridiculous. » the warrior answered « These are only rumours. They could be manipulating us. »

« Hundred of deaths ? What... happened ? How long have I been sleeping ? » muttered the young elf, completely disoriented.

« Can you stand ? If you truly don't know then it's better to see for yourself. »

Ellana got on her feet, the redhaired offered her arm as support and drove her to the door. She gasped.

« W...What is this ? »

Solas joined the conversation then. « Consequence of said explosion, so powerful it destroyed the mountain and disrupted the veil, now rifts are opening in the whole region dragging countless demons into the living side. It seems the magic on your arm protected you. »

She stared at her left hand, eyes wide. He continued.

« Either were you truly caught up in the middle of events and you are the most fortunate walking person across Thedas » _who 'accidentally' found themselves claiming the anchor as theirs, which threw them into the fade, that they survived entering physically and successfully left right after the explosion somehow, without getting killed by demons or any other way, all of this by the sole action of actual purely legit forfuitous coincidence,_ « or you are part of a terrorist organisation that sent you in a suicide mission that you managed to survive. » That he realised was more or less what his own actions could be refered as. He was thinking hard, unable to grasp how had it all come to this. Had Corypheus realized he wouldn't survive the orb and used someone else as a catalyst ? Were they from a 3rd unknown faction that even him hadn't heard about ? Had he been betrayed ? He had honestly no idea and that to him was insufferable.

« No ! I... » she decided to tell then. « I believe you'd notice that I'm Dalish, you see, those wars that the conclave was supposed to settle ? They were reaching our forest ! The hahrens decided to send people to attend the meeting to know what was going on, they sent me, and here I am. » She remembered Aelen, she hoped she was alright, she truly hoped she was alright. « We've got nothing to do with... That ! »

« Still all the evidences point at you it seems. » said the hooded figure, lost in thoughts.

Ellana was about to react but felt the mark burning deeply at this instant. She let a pained growl, while green sparks were coming out of it, and fade lightning falling from the sky. Solas winced and quickly poured more magic into her hand to try to calm the sudden chaotic energy.

« As you can see, the mark is visibly connected to the breach. Whether you are the ennemy or not, this could be our greatest hope to fix this madness. »

The first rays of dawn were peeping from the far horizon. « We shouldn't lose any more time then, let's go. If you can walk. Solas, come as well if you can handle it » ordered the seeker, probably trying not to, he knew.

« I believe my work is not over yet, indeed. »

« I can... but where to ? »

« The temple. » She added simply.

Everyone was staring at her, and her arm in particular. She was absolutely clueless on what she was supposed to do, of what were they expecting from her. But one thing was certain : there was a whole army of demons waiting outside and this shem was telling her to go exactly right there, she didn't like it. But she knew the amount of distrust was probably equal on both sides, and all the evidence was indeed pointing at her. She was in no place to protest, these people could kill her and chop her arm off to do their thing, if they knew they could. She didn't want to ask. In this configuration the smartest thing felt to be taging along in silence and play nice. They had reached the gates when she realized something : her bow was gone.

« Excuse me, was my bow aound when you found me ? If we're going through full packs of demons, I'd rather not die pitifully in the first two meters. »

« You will be alright » coldly answered the warrior, dismissive. « We can't affort to give you an opportunity to betray us and escape, just stay behind us. »

Geez. Stupid shems and their pride.

« Seeker ! I see our little guest is awake and well ! You wouldn't leave without me, would'ya ? »

The warrior hissed, or something akin. « Varric. »

« Varric Tethras, rogue, storyteller, and ocasionally unwelcome tag-along. » he winked, which was only met with daze, like everything else happening to her on this early morning. « Well technically I'm a prisonner, just like you. »

« I brought you here to tell your story to the Divine. Clearly that is no longer necessary. »

« Yet, here I am, lucky for you. Given the circumstances. »

The warrior sighed in exhasperation. « Your help is appreciated Varric but- »

« Have you been in the valley lately Seeker ? Your soldiers aren't in control anymore, you _need_ me. »

To that she responded nothing, walking away in disbelief, and they took off. As expected, there were an overwhelming amount of monstruous creatures on the other side. The young elf was truly glad for any amount of bodyguards she had at this time and it become clear that running away was totally out of question. She clenched her fists wondering if her friend had had the time to make it inside before it had all started...

At this moment, a terror demon dived in the ground and reappeared right behind her. She let out a surprised cry while dodging its claws and pested against the seeker for not letting her carry a weapon. There was no way she would survive the day. When the pack of monsters was dealt with, Ellana threw as many murderous glares as she could to the warrior, who sighed and finally agreed to let her pick any bow on the ground along the way, from one of the many lying corpses. It was disheartening that she was indeed able to get one right away. There had truly been hundreds of deaths there.

They reached the first rift, a lot of demons continuously coming out of it. They managed to win the battle again. Varric was a skilled rogue, the Seeker could bannish forming demons, and the bearer of the anchor proved as efficient with a bow as expected from dalish hunters. Solas, exhausted to a worrying degree – especially for him – simply kept at the remote support role, it was a relief that he could rely on these people at this particularly vulnerable moment, and he was glad not to have to shatter these poor spirits with his very own hands, the sorrowful sight of corrupted souls, of twisted purpose, tainted heart. Of course, because of him. Was he responsible for every single bad thing around ? He truly believed so, and couldn't look at them as their crying voice vanished away, in the distant nothing. 

As they finally reached a moment when there were no more of them for a few seconds, he couldn't let any more fall into the waking world, grabbed the green arm and pulled it to the rift.

« Quickly, before more come through ! »

He was about to use his mana to channel rift magic through the anchor, but to his surprise, it hadn't even been needed, and the tear closed in a small burst of familiar power. He stared still at the small pile of dust, lips slightly parted, mind racing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it !! I got past the title screen and character creation !! So proud


	5. Vows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relief, determination

Floating in the endless sea, body and mind wrapped in a world of peace and cotton, hunger wouldn't strike in as long as she didn't mo-

« There you are ! »

A mass collapsed on Aelen, crushing her everything, her eyes snapped open but nothing could she see, troubled waters spilling all over her bones, her heart stopped, freezing in bed, icy wind biting her ckeeks as tears threatened to drop out violently. She choked for breath, convinced she was going to die, crashing into existence at the highest speed, breaking apart.

« I'm glad you were safe... »

« E... llana.. » she whispered. With this, she threw her arms back around the form and held it tightly, forever.

« Eek you're cold, come, let's get you out of here. They're getting a high quality tent prepared just for me up there, I have sooo much stuff to tell you »

« … 'They' who »

« The shems ! I'll explain, but it seems like good news ! »

« … o-kay... »

Aelen got on her feets painfully, and followed her at a very slow pace. It was so cold outside, weren't Ellana right next to her, she'd doubt she would survive the small journey across Haven at all. She held her hand firmly and braced herself. She was going to be alright, as always. Ellana kept the conversation going :

« You won't believe it, the craziest things happened these last two days » she added in whisper « now these shemlens even respect me, calling me an Herald » she laughed brightly. The girl answered in new whispers :

« What ?! Really ? But... Can you trust them ? They wanted to kill y- »

She gasped, drew the hand she was holding close to her eyes.

« The green magic ! » but it was only the usual pale hand « it's... gone » she turned her head to the sky, the breach was still there, but it seemed calmer, she then stared at her friend, confusion written all over her face. 

« Nah, it's still there. » Ellana made her hand glow softly « See, i can even control it ! I'm going to fix this whole mess using this ! »

She didn't even look scared. She was amazing, the girl thought, getting lost in the sparkly brown curls and confident eyes, fixed in the distance, unfaltering as ever. Fingers still intertwined, Aelen stared at the ground, relieved. Despite the 'craziest things', she was still herself, so strong, reliable, her perfect opposite. She was glad she could still be at her side, the pain of almost losing her had been excruciating. She sighed.

« Oh, you're awake ? » An elf, who stopped and bowed to her friend, « Lady Herald. » So strange yet so familiar, she thought. « then am I wrong to assume you know each other ? I was going to check up on you, are you fine now ? »

She remembered, it was the one who had helped her so much since she got there. Ellana answered before she could :

« Ha ha, yes we made the journey together. Thanks a lot for taking care of my friend then, err... »

« Nyhrin. T'was my pleasure. »

« Thank you very much, Nyhrin, » repeated the girl « I'm Aelen. You really saved me. »

« Well, the lady Herald is saving us all out there so it's really nothing, just call if ya need anything again ! I won't hold you any longer, go get some heat before losing your legs to that cold. »

« Urgh yes, take care. » responded said Herald, they waved and hurried to said tent, settled in the highest part of the village, next to the chantry, protected from the wind as well. When they arrived, someone came out of it. 

*This tall person again* Aelen thought, looking away in embarrassment.

« All good ? » asked her friend. 

« Yes, I have just finished placing a fire glyph in the center, this should suffice for now. » He paused for a moment, watching the two entering, then added : « Thank you for your hard work. Please let me know right away if you were to encounter any difficulty with the mark again. »

« I will, thanks. » she answered as she was fusing with her newly dedicated blankets in the back. To that he left.

It was already so warm inside. The other girl sat quietly on the stone, right next to the glyph. 

« Hot, don't you think ? » she was asked.

« Ha, yes » She lied down on the mild stone. A paradise. « It's comfortable... Magic is so neat. »

« I meant the elven man. Name's Solas. Aloof, but interesting, and powerful. He's been watching me the whole time I tell you. He knows a lot of stuff about the fade apparently, all well for us. »

« ...I see... Isn't he old though ? » the girl just said, dreamy.

« I don't know, there's a lot of mystery around him, I'm curious. But there's just sooo much to do. » Ellana couldn't stop rolling on the blankets, grinning, then openly laughing.

« Ha ! 'Herald of Andraste'... ME. Can you believe that. »

« So you really did become a head figure of the shem cult ? »

« Basically, yes. »

Aelen was in awe. Making the impossible come true was Ellana's speciallity alright. She stared at her with these starry eyes.

« I don't remember what happened at the conclave and that would make me a bit worried, but it appears I gained a weird magic in the process, 'the mark', and this thing is able to – Creators – close the rifts that have been opening all around, and potentially the wide breach in the sky. Nothing less ! The shems then formed a group they called the inquisition and they seem to be relying on me for a lot of things, not that I'm going to complain. » she shrugged.

« … Woa... » Speechless, thoughtless, fascinated. « How. »

« I don't know, but it just worked. And see where it got me : luxurious tent, title, bows. If I handle this well I'll get these shemlens at my feet in a matter of time. The clan is going to wait, I might be able to achieve way more than a simple report here. » she shifted her head towards the roof. She raised her marked arm in the air. « They'll see. »

The other girl kept silent for a moment, closing her eyes. She vowed again to herself always to be there for her, witnessing her greatness and helping as she could. She was soon interrupted :

« Ha ! But I see you've still got the bag, awesome. Is everything there ? »

« It is, it didn't leave for a second. »

« You didn't actually sleep with it on your back, did you ? ...Alright nevermind, just help me redo my hair, I don't even want to know in what state it is at the moment hahaha. »

* * *

* * *

Solas had lost all control over the turn of events, he thought as the dalish elf wouldn't stop closing every rift they'd encounter while climbing all the way to what used to be the temple of sacred ashes. He couldn't draw his eyes away from her, not even looking afraid at all, bravely facing the numerous fights coming in their way, astonishingly swiftly getting the anchor to fix the tears in the veil. Meanwhile, Varric and Cassandra wouldn't stop bickering about a lot of things, mentionning the champion of Kirkwall a few times. He almost felt useless, uneeded within this odd, capable team, and they reached the top with unexpected ease.

He instinctly took a step backwards when he realized what had been awaiting them under the breach, demons of course, but one pride among them. Staring right back at him. A striking hurt, all of a sudden. But this was an original demon, no corrupted Wisdom. It wasn't the same, but it was still nonetheless, Pride. Fierce eyes, tremendous strenght, its focus set entirely on him. It _knew_. Did the others notice ? Probably not, as everyone had jumped forward to battle the next second, met by Léliana, her scouts and even more soldiers. He didn't even have to move, the fight was already soon over. Pride threw a very long gaze at him, intently, piercing his soul apart right before fading away in silent green mist. Tore forever. A silent mourn through the cries of victory as the Herald stabilized the breach, just like this, foreign arm raised to the sky. Surreal.

The whole village celebrated their return then. The huge scar had stopped expanding, and new rifts didn't open any more. There were still a lot of them around, but the situation was no longer hopeless. Their hero a young dalish hunter off all people, but they waved at her all the same. Too scared to realise their own hypocrisy. She was beaming herself, despite her apparent exhaustion. He couldn't understand and didn't have any energy left to try to. When this phophet of sorts collasped in his bed, he could finally set to rest with delight on a stool, the only place left, bent over his table. He had slept in worst circumstances anyway.

Sleeping meant fade, and fade meant contact with his agents. It was about time, as his plans had been... undergoing some forced drastic changes. He had already accepted it, they had to move forward and fast. So he entered the dreams of each of his sleeping agents and gave them new _orders_ , most of them were to slowly leave the place and dispatch back to gathering intel on Corypheus and the venatoris as soon as possible.

« Lord Fen'harel, » Solas had given up on getting his helpers to stop calling him like this in the fade, they just wouldn't. It made them feel strong and united, so he eventually came to go with it. Soon all of them had picked up the habit. They were sacrificing so much, he could at least offer them this tiny thing.

« Is anything the matter ? »

« I believe so, there's been a strange human around us since the explosion, not speaking, eating or moving. Too suspicious to be a spy, could just be disoriented from shock but i'd recommend keeping an eye open, I have a weird feeling about them. I believe there might be something. »

« I see, thank you. Do you believe you could handle this ? »

« I was able to approach them on several occasions already, I intended to keep it up. »

« Very well Nyhrin, please do. Don't take any risks. »

« Yes lord, I won't disappoint. »

He walked away, to another dream, clutching the core of his spirit. *I will not disappoint.* He vowed to himself, determined. It was not over yet, things were even almost going well given the situation. For a moment he felt a disruption within the fade, but it vanished quickly. It was a bit dangerous to walk the fade while the breach was there, but it was his realm of sorts, so he was ready to face anything.

The chantry was fast to protest the Herald, but both hands of their late Divine firmly resisted and announced the return of the inquisition. It seemed most of Haven rallied to them right away, and he was no exception, though his presence was of course expected for his supposed knowledge. It was weird to experience a form of actual _belonging_ within modern Thedas, weird but not displeasing. As far as they obviously wouldn't start sharing their every secrets with him, no one called him an apostate, knife-ears or anything else anymore since that night, the Seeker was probably involved with this, he thought. The smallest ray of contentment shone in his heart. After all these time, plotting and betrayals, he didn't realise he wanted to feel genuine respect for something, someone. He got quickly aware of this and allowed himself to hope, only for a little. Seeing good in something wasn't going to hurt anyone, was it ?

He was thinking about all of this when he left the tent the inquisition had been preparing for the dalish-herald. He wondered how the dalish people would react to being associated to andrastian faith, and because of some magic of their own 'Creators'. 

The irony was way too strong. He would laugh, were it not so depressing.

« All good ? »

He stopped, this very Herald was right in front of him, together with an el- No. Not elf. He remembered having this exact inner conversation a few days earlier, he had completely forgotten about this. The not-elf was desperately staring at the mud. Solas didn't insist, and noticed agent Nyhrin in the distance, looking at him intently. He then understood. The weird human, visibly an acquaintance of the lucky anchor bearer to judge from the joined hands. He had a faint troubled feeling as they entered the tent. Things were only getting stranger. Who _were_ these two ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :vibrates: I have to keep rereading my work over and over, I just can't remember things aaahhh the struggle  
> I'll try my possible to keep consistencyyyyyyyy


	6. Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of the inquisition, hands, focus.

He could still hear the low growl of the fade from the distant hills of the Hinterlands, though his eyes wouldn't reach the breach anymore, covered in mist and mountains, waiting, longing. For him – for them – to seal, for demons to break through, the venatoris to tear and so on. Waiting. Thanks to the anchor they'd managed to gain time, but it was little. In order to close it they needed more power, that had been made clear during their last expedition to the temple. Gained time they clearly had no intent to waste.

Solas was fascinated with the efficiency the short lived humans had been displaying ever since the events, quick to react upon danger, quick to gather for their cause, quick to simply take action. To the point the 'shemlen' slur would almost feel _reverent_. And there he was, three tiny days after the aborted conclave, dispatched together with the dalish, the Seeker and the rogue novelist, discussing little details over their incoming mission to gain more allies, together with dwarf Harding and the pack of scouts she was leading. All volunteers. Every soul around him was from the inquisition there. Just formed, yet so many members right from the beginning. Fascinating, truly.

It almost seemed too easy. He couldn't help but to think about the past. The smallest things would always take eternities, and whole seas woth of energy to get any done at all. Right there, as he could see, history was already in march, fierce, unstoppable. Strong leaders, powerful symbolism – despite the andrastian Herald making no sense in regard to her identity, maybe actually making it an even more inspiring image, who knew – a charismatic group quickly joined by their wide connections and genuine followers, as well as opportunists, and very soon spies and traitors – after all he was already there himself – the wheel of fate was spinning actively, threads entangling, ready to pull over. He could feel this beginning of times, anew, and right there he was, seating front row. It was lifting his spirits greatly at such critical times, getting his attention all drawn to the present. He was... almost glad to be there. He agreed to take part to this new expedition with a surprinsing spark of enthusiasm, innerly gasping at himself.

« Solas ? »

« What is it, Cassandra ? » he hushed his thoughts away, he would have to keep his focus to his immediate surroundings in order not to raise suspicion, especially from her, as she appeared to be in charge of this rising faction.

« It seems the mage-templar battles went back to their height in the valley, as we feared. Please be careful, especially for the templars. I needn't remind you these are full-fledged soldiers, specifically trained to handle magic. Stay close. »

« I will, thank you. »

« Aaw Seeker, so unfair, all for Chuckles and nothing for me. » Interrupted Varric.

« If you are so frightened you are free to stay at camp, Varric. I am certain there is plenty of other tasks you could take on to make yourself useful as you wish to so much. »

« Come on. I get it, I get it. Not that I hadn't been good at not getting my ass magically blown up so far. We're good to go then, if everything is fine with Light. »

« Light ? » asked Ellana, hiding a grin with her right hand, bow in the left. « Who's that now, me ? »

« Yes, Light, because you're glowing, in every way possible. I could always call you 'Beacon' if you prefered. »

« Haha, no, Light will do just fine. »

« That's always what they say on hearing the spare names »

She laughed in her hand, he was just so easy to like, then went back to facing the valley. The dwarf would seem silly at first, but he was efficiently cheering up the mood and everyone was probably thankful for it in secret. They had to make their way to the crossroad, through the waging war all around, to protect the refugees and then retrieve Mother Gisèle, a local important figure of the chantry. Their interest was obvious here, yet they were getting to do some unquestionable good in helping the weak and Solas would always approve of this.

Yet no matter the age, war was still war. They took off and were soon surrounded with them, mages and templars, attacking alike, everything in sight. The small team was no exception and all their weapons were soon drawn to fight.

* * *

Aelen woke up to an empty tent. *So she's left already...* Ellana had told her that she'd be going on her first mission early in the morning, yet... She somehow hoped to be there to send her off, to get woken up from the noise, light, anything. It was their queen of stealth this was refering to so such an outcome was fully expected. She sighed, the mat suddenly feeling so big with no one by her side. She got on her feet and then noticed the small 'Take care ! (Key of chest)' note left on the table and said key resting right next to it. The girl smiled and tied it around her neck not to lose. Their chest now.

Mantle on shoulders, she went out. The sudden reflection of the sun over the pale mountains blinding, painful. She instinctively covered her eyes with an arm. A lot of people had left to the Hinterlands yet the village was livelier than ever. Another kind of lively than the first time she'd seen it as there were less soldiers around on this day, it was less opressing, more comfortable. She spotted the only person she knew by name across the main square.

« Nyhrin ! »

« Ha, Aelen, was it ? Hello, glad to see you're feeling better. » They were carrying a wooden box, the girl decided to walk along. The elf imperceptibly slowed their pace to match hers.

« Yes, it's mostly thanks to you and I wanted to thank you, properly this time. »

« Hah, my lady. That was nothing believe me, that's not everyday we meet such a nice sh-... person. Hem, please excuse my rudeness I didn't mean- »

« No, you're actually right. » She paused for a moment, hesitant, but finally chose to add : « I've not been here for long but there's a blattant hierarchy here, and the elves are yet again at the very bottom. I hate that. »

The agent was speechless. « That's... [unusual] true. » They gave her a questionning look. Such a part of the inquisition already, but she understood or thought so.

« Sadly I'm... well. Let's say I'm just completely different. So please don't find them excuses just because you met me. They- Shems are still _garbage_. » She whispered.  « Sorry I just can't, the way they keep treating... you. » She'd almost said 'us' but managed to catch herself, making a vague gesture around, could she tell she wasn't sure. Better safe than sorry. Nyhrin carefully watching all of this.

« I get it. I had no intention to, don't worry about me. Did you need anything else, my lady ? »

« Ha, first I'd rather not be called lady, just my name is good or anything you like, and second, could I help in any way ? » Looking at the box « You, or, » gesturing again « this inquisition thing, is it actually the same ? »

The elf smiled at her. « Alright, come with me, falon. »

Her heart melted a bit.

* * *

« ' _These mages are worth no more than animals_ ', huh ? »

They had just established camp after a very long day of fighting, meeting with the starving and freezing refugees, the dalish hunter was more than happy to offer her help with getting food and they were just done retrieving all the meat. The contentment on their faces was priceless, and the herald was beaming again. Varric had certainly picked a perfectly fitting name. It had been such an hectic day, one like he hadn't have for a very long time. Now they were tending their fortunately superficial wounds – modern battles were no joke – and she'd just engaged him in conversation, again to his surprise.

« Hah. Apologies, I _might_ have gone too far in the heat of the moment. »

« Nah, I agree » though to her, the whole humanity was worth _less_ than animals in some way,  « it's alright, it just didn't feel like you, all calm and quiet. »

« Indeed, I tend to lose my temper at seing magic being used in such a wrong way, but I won't let it happen again. »

« You know, I'm pissed aswell. I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for this war threatening my clan in the first place. 'Tis everywhere, it has to stop. » She puffed. « After the demon thing I hope the inquisition will take care of it if no one else does. »

At this he was feeling inspired, suddenly. « Your organisation is all new, a blank canvas, what you trace it shall become, where you lead it shall go. The Chosen of Andraste, a blessed hero sent to save us all, through your radiance and charisma, you will make it whatever you want it to be. »

« The light stuff again, huh ? So am I riding on a shining steed ? »

« I would have suggested a griffon, but sadly, they're extinct. Joke as you will, posturing is necessary. »

« Hahaha, » bright laugh, « Anyway, you flatter me I hear that, but it's not my organisation you know, Cassandra's at best, or Léliana's. »

« But it is _you_ the people believes in, Herald. » He had a feeling this conversation could spiral out of control way too far way too easily and decided to change the subject.  « Speaking of which, the mark. May I take a look at your hand ? How does it feel now ? You have been closing a handful of rifts today as well. »

She lent out her hand, relaxed. « It itches a bit but it's fine, better than ever. We're getting along it seems. It's weird to wield magic or something like that all of a sudden but it feels nice, not bad at least. » He chuckled. She decided to attack then : « And you've never seen stuff like this ? Not even in these journeys of yours through the fade ? »

It was clear to her at this point that she'd gain only advantages from getting the elven man into her pocket, and what a better way to befriend someone than asking about their hobbies ? To her there were none, except for saving their lives of course. But he was absolutely self-sufficient on the matter as it appeared.

« Are you not... Scared of the fade ? » he risked, dreading the answer as a fatality.

« I'd say yes but now it seems I'm becoming the closest one from the fade Thedas has ever seen, walking near all these rifts, even _going in there_ a few days ago, apparently – since _I_ remember nothing. Pff – and even carrying some fade-related magic right in my hand. »

He had lifted his gaze from her hand to meet her eyes then. She kept going.

« At this point I'd rather learn everything I could about it don'tya think ? And from what you say, there's actually interesting stuff to learn there, despite the demons. »

« These are... » He was at a loss for words for a moment, deeply troubled and amazed at the same time. He hadn't even thought someone might take such interest in the fade. It would have never crossed his mind at all for it to inspire anything else than pure terror in broken modern Thedas, even less to a non-mage. Or had he been mistaken ? He didn't know what to think anymore at this moment.

« Certainly wise words. Exactly, it is occasionnaly dangerous, yes. But more often, it is just sad to see what has been lost. »

Then he just went on, unable to stop himself just what he had tried to avoid, and Ellana knew she had done excellent.

« I've journeyed deep into the Fade in ancient ruins and battlefields to see the dream of lost civilizations. I've watched as hosts of spirits clash to reenact the bloody past in ancient wars both famous and forgotten. Any building strong enough to withstand the rigors of time has a history. Every battlefield is steeped in death. Both attract spirits. They press against the Veil, weakening the barrier between our worlds. When I dream in such places, I go deep into the Fade, I can find memories no other living being has ever seen. »

His eyes were lost to the sky, where the breach would stand, she was still staring at him, a bit in awe, she wasn't expecting such a long speech. The guy _was_ passionate about the subject alright. But her hand was still in his and she remembered what she was doing there, just keep it going.

« Isn't that dangerous, sleeping in ruins ? Those are usually filled with spiders aren't they ? _Giant_ spiders. »

« I _do_ set wards, and they are _usually_ content to live and let live if you leave food out. »

She chose to pass on the word, as there might be something displeasing hiding behind it « Right, and you're a skilled mage, I _do_ keep in mind. »

« Truly, the thrill of finding remnants of a thousand-year-old dream ? I would not trade it for anything. » He paused to stare back at her, noticing then that she'd probably been watching him the whole time. *Such focus* He thought. « I have an idea but may I ask ? Every age has its heroes, I'm curious what kind you'll be. »

He went back to studying her hand, resting on his bandaged palms, fingertips bare. That could be a trap, as much as that couldn't. She didn't know and went for plain honesty. Change, she wanted change. Get rid of every single thing that's been going wrong for so long. Especially for their kind.

« I don't know about being a hero... But if I _became_ one, _given the power_ , I'd have every intention to try my everything to make the world a better place. »

« Just as I thought. » He answered, smiling softly, he would recognize it everywhere, such a simple yet familiar desire, this burning flame, longing for justice. Content. « Very well. I will stay then, at least until the Breach has been closed. »

It was her turn to be surprised : « It wasn't sure ? »

He marked a pause, finished examining the anchor, then nodded and let it go back to its owner.

« I am still an apostate mage surrounded by Chantry forces and unlike you, I do not have a divine mark protecting me. Cassandra has been accomodating, but you understand my caution. » He half pretexted.

She saw an opening and jumped at it. « You came here to help, Solas. I won't let them use that against you. »

Whatever was his past like, he'd managed to stay afar from circles and any major trouble for years, casually sleeping in the middle of... 'wildlife', only to leave his dear shadows to save her from burning away by herself. As foggy as his backstory was, she _did_ feel a bit appreciative.

« How would you stop them ? »

« However I had to. » She said, intensity in her voice.

There was a new silence. Ellana, once such a frail, almost lifeless entity, had just declared she would stand tall and firm against this forming army of hers for his sake. The transformation had been so fast, so unforeseen. It was. Pleasing, Solas was pleased and he had no choice but to acknowledge that at this moment. These people, this girl in front of him, the conversation he'd just had. He was thrilled and couldn't help it.

« Thank you. » he simply answered. She gave him a reassuring smile, proud of herself, knowing she'd handled it just fine. He added : « For now, let us hope we will gather the power to seal the Breach eventually. These are very long days awaiting, let us not suffer from lack of sleep right off the start, shall we ? »

« That's right, we should go to sleep now. Good night, Solas. »

« Good night, Hero. »

She cracked up a little and walked away. Who would have expected the wise, serious scholar to actually reveal as playful. And quite smooth on top of that. She went to her bedroll greatly satisfied. Varric was easy to deal with, the righteous Cassandra she would manage. Now with her progress with Solas, she was starting to build very nice ties within this Inquisition. Winning hearts was winning safety for now but – she thought again about this conversation they'd just had, sliding her body between the sheets –

_Given the power_...

She didn't know Solas never followed suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to copy a lot of canon Weekes line... I feel a bit bad about it but it felt necessary. I'm sorry !  
> I hope you liked this chapter, my longest so far, I had to cut it there because I liked the moment but I do realize the PoV's are left unbalanced. :nods:


	7. Pull

« What is there in these crates even. » Aelen asked, struggling to catch her breath, her whole body hurting. She'd been carrying all kinds of them from the wide storage to every corner of Haven, together with Nyhrin, helping her every now and then. This one they were carrying together, or trying to, was especially big and heavy, it was killing her. Aelen was sure lacking in strengh.

« My guess would be supplies, but we usually simply carry their stuff around, not ask for details. »

*Right.* the girl glared at the block of wood, of course that would happen, as no one probably ever cared for their opinion at all.

« Not that we were told not to take a peek either. » The elf added.

« ...Wait, are you... Really ? »

« Sure, ya deserve to know what it is that's breaking your back, no ? And you're the dear friend of the lady Herald after all, what could they even say. »

At the mischievious smile, she was convinced. Those shems would just leave these ridiculously heavy tasks for the frail elven servants to get done, they did deserve to know, as they deserved better beds and actual respect. She snapped, opening the box sharply. Her irritation only intensifying from what she would find inside. That one was full of ore. The next ones had armor, weapons and various materials, and of course even more ore. There was no end to it.

« So much stuff... Is it always like this ? »

« No, only since this morning. It's probably all for the Inquisition. »

« But it's only been a day... How » The new box she picked was surprisingly light. She was directed to bring it to a 'Lady Montilyet'.

« Ha, that was her name, Lady Montilyet, it's all started when she arrived. Seems like she's an important merchant. Bring it to the chantry, 'tis where she's set her office. »

Aelen waited a bit to get out of sight for the scary requisition person to open the case. She'd already grown very curious from it all. « Ooh » Paper, quills and diverse stationery. She'd almost reached out to it on instinct but stopped herself right before touching.

« You familiar with these ? »

« Hah, yes and no... » She paused, closing the crate to prevent further temptation. It wasn't even heavy, she had no excuse to pry this time. « I used to draw but... » She didn't finish that sentence.

« What, you can draw ? That's amazing ! »

« It's about my only skill haha... Anyway it's been a very long time so I don't think... »

« In any case you know how to hold a quill, you should just go to this Lady merchant and ask her for work instead of lifting these with us. You'd surely do just fine and get to stay inside. »

« But... I wanted to give _you all_ a hand. » she answered, pensive. About elves obviously.

Nyhrin wouldn't let her though : « We appreciate, but you should really go to the place where you could be the most useful. We will manage just fine here. Besides, satisfied _shemlen_ is always a good thing for us you probably understand, _falon._ »

Of course she did. She resigned as they were right, and headed to her last delivery, sad to leave them behind in the ever freezing mountain air. They hadn't complained but chances were she had been dragging them down with her sloppy muscles. She couldn't help but feel ashamed by the kind rejection she'd just received. Her heart shattered at feeling so powerless and irrelevant again.

There was a lot of life inside the chantry as well. One side was for tending to the wounded, healers actively casting their spells, though there were very few of them staying around with the demon army decreasing spectacularly. The other side was filled with civilians and a fair part of servants, praying or working. The air was filled with steps and chants. Self conscious, Aelen had to take a moment to gather the courage to walk up to someone and ask for directions. She was then shown one of the doors in the back. There she went. She was about to get to the door when it suddenly opened to her, a tall figure drapped in gold tones coming out of it with swift steps.

« No, nooo, why is it taking so long ? There's no time, and so much to do, I have to get everything rea- »

She stopped when she noticed the girl, staring at her dumbfounded, speechless. Then she glanced at what she was holding. And her eyes started shining brightly.

« Ha ! Is that my request ? Has it arrived ? »

« … Lady Montilyet ? »

« Yes, good, that's it, at last ! Joséphine Montilyet, please excuse my manners everything has been just so... so... » She let a small desperate cry « ...Come in. »

She followed her inside, not sure of what to think. She was instructed to leave the box next to the table, wide yet covered with books and sheets. The room was pretty empty in furniture, but there were books and letters on every available surface. These had probably something to do with the stuff they'd been carrying all day long, she thought instantly. The room was overflowing with restless paperwork and she considered giving up on asking for being part of _that._

« Fantastic, there's everything, I can set back to work now ! Thank you so very much... You're saving me. I can't afford wasting any time, the first days are _critical_. » 

Joséphine nodded to herself. Aelen silently stared at her moving back and forth across the room, gathering documents and tools. How could she even pick them out from this mess ? She was awkwardly standing rooted to the spot until the moment the woman would take notice, which only happened after a few minutes.

« That would be all, thank you again for taking the time ! You may go, unless you needed anything ? »

« Right ! » she remembered. It had been so easy to lose herself to her previous agitation, it was somewhat endearing, but she was shem and they weren't to take lightly, so she tried to focus back. « I would like to be useful to the inquisition even though I can't fight. I was helping with the deliveries so far but I got sent here immediately after mentionning I used to work with quills. »

« Mmh there is a few people who can write already... Even if we could always make use of spare hands... I'd rather handle most of it myself for now... I am not sure. » Arms tightly wrapped around her pile of paper, hard-thinking.

« I could write but I was thinking about drawing actually, do you think it could be useful ? »

« Oh. » She stopped for a moment. « Ooh ! » she stared at her, then at the nothing, Aelen could almost see her brain processing all kinds of things. « I'm curious now, this is such an uncommon ability, I would like to see it ! If you may ? »

« Hah, it has been a long time actually but I would like to try, yes. »

« Wonderful, please take a seat. »

She quickly made a new table appear from another pile of letters that she neatly folded and crammed into the closest drawer. That was way too much paper for a single day, the girl thought. This was probably how one could spot a workaholic. She set to her task under the cheerful gaze of the lady. She was way too excited for some rusty scribbling and Aelen was dreading the unavoidable disappointment that would ensue. She drew, it was a bit slow from the years, but her hand still steady, for that she was grateful. She ended up drawing what she knew best and when she was done, lent the sheet over with deep embarrassment. Why was she doing this again ?

« Oh ! It's the Herald ! This is _lovely_ ! Yes, we could definitely use this ! The nobles will love it, and not only the nobles ! »

She wasn't expecting such a positive feedback at all. Joséphine was planning, she could tell, thinking about the best ways to take advantage of it, it seemed Nyhrin had been right. The girl was glad and worried at the same time. This human seemed nice but she was human, probably a rich one she would say from her clothing. She was full of power, successfully part of the very system that was making the elven people live in such misery, that couldn't be good.

« Could you by any chance be the human acquaintance of lady Ellana ? This is so accurate. »

« Yes, that would be me. »

« I knew it ! » she gushed « I will think about it ! Thank you very much for volunteering. We would love to have you working with us indeed. I will call out for you soon... Oh no, I haven't even asked for your name yet, I am so sorry. »

« Aelen. »

She nodded and finally sent her off, beaming. The girl found herself back to the great hall, still not sure about what had just happened. Everything was just so confusing... But so far it was alright, wasn't it ? She went back to her nearby tent for a moment, in need of thinking.

* * *

* * *

Solas stayed close to the fire for a while, contemplating the dancing flames, mesmerizing. He was waiting for the right moment, an opportunity, and when it had come, he disappeared in the shadows, unnoticed. ' Very well. I will stay then' had he said. He was thinking about their conversation, again and again. It would be an understatement to say that he had gone a bit ahead of himself then. He truly couldn't bear the thought of losing his control, and this dalish girl had casually succeeded to make him. The outcome had been a good experience for once, but he knew he had to be more careful, there was way too much at stake for him to do such things as befriending Veiled natives. Anyway, he had something to check on before anything else, and this moment then, the second night of the Inquisition, could be his last opportunity to ever do so. He wouldn't be able to act so freely as soon as the spymaster Léliana would be done dispatching her crows all over Thedas.

He had to find a rift.

He walked for a while, sliding through space and time, fade steps, until he reached an isolated river, far from any prying gaze. He reduced his presence even further, the veil was rather calm despite this wide tear, sleeping. The perfect spot for experimentation. He began. Slowly, cautious, soft magic casting to soothe the wound, to tuck its corners back together inside, to heal. He tried everything he could think of, always with great care, yet as he feared, is wasn't met with success. He insisted just like this for half an hour before giving up, resigning. It was clearly no use. Within the current circumstances, there was truly no other choice but to rely on the anchor, and that was to say on the Herald. As satisfying as their talks had been, as willing to fix the chaos she had declared to be, could he allow himself to trust ? There was way too many unknowns, it was overwhelming. Intel, he needed. He had to go to sleep to check on his agent soon, hoping for enlightment on the human girl. He went back to the camp then, imperceptible motion. An odd cry reached to him when he disappeared into his tent, wolves howling, otherworldly, he noticed. He wouldn't risk going by himself any longer and thus wished for their path to cross this matter soon. These creatures had always held a special space in his heart.

Inteferences from the Breach, the rifts, added to the general agigation of the ongoing war made it way too hard to travel efficiently on that night, hence his failing at reaching his agents from this moderate distance. Frustrating. Hopefully this mission wouldn't last for too long.


	8. Notes

The Inquisition had decided to deal with the whole situation and put an end to the overall chaos, bringing a sense of somewhat order back or at least trying to. They had realised that the refugees were completely forsaken, left to their own devices and in great distress. Someone had to do something and they had decided this someone would be them. Of course it was also good for their image, but the intent seemed vertuous, as far as Solas could see. The area was filled with Templars, mages, and also bandits, who had been fast to invade the area, jumping at the opportunity. It was a pain because now they had just so much to handle, though he couldn't blame them, which were only trying to survive in the best way they could. Everybody always had their reasons, he knew that all too much. But for these very same reasons they just wouldn't get to talk them out of there.

A lot of blood was shed on that day, though not much of theirs, fortunately. Their influence slowly expanding around the crossroad after every victory, every new camp, and the hope of the people increasing accordingly. The Herald was shining bright to their eyes. Though said Herald was actually exhausted to the bone, as they all were. Thankfully soldiers were arriving to maintain their positions, so that they wouldn't have to fight over and over to defend the place and the people inside. They set to rest with relief in an empty cave, a piece of peace at last.

« Finally ! » Ellana groaned, lying on the stone, every muscle aching. « There was no end to them. »

« The people are grateful, soon everyone will be speaking highly of the Inquisition, hopefully this will reach the ears of our detractors... » answered Cassandra.

« I could suggest writting a book about it, if my ramblings would sell in Orlais at all. »

« I thought everyone liked your work, Varric ? » asked the dalish.

« Light, don't ask me about what those humans are thinking as I don't have a clue. » he shrugged, and added « Oh, no offense Seeker. » She only sighed aloud, exasperated.

It was hard not to laugh at this, Ellana knew shem bashing was always an easy way through her but the unusual relationship between these two was especially entertaining, though she did feel bad for Cassandra every now and then, she had truly been accomodating and was a very good support with this inquisition stuff, she wasn't even mean. Suddenly she noticed something was missing to the picture.

« Solas ? »

She got back and started looking around for him. He wasn't very far, kneeling in the back of the cave, staring at something in the darkness. « Everything alright ? »

« Ha, yes. » He paused, tilting his head, focused. « I believe... I have... Found something... »

A strange device, though he knew exactly what those were for. Ancient elven artifacts that he'd designed himself to operate on the Veil once set, they were just the way he had left them, except sleeping now just like he had been. He wasn't expecting to find any of them, when he had checked on a few ones he found them long shattered, so he was a bit moved at the sight in this moment. He drove his palm close to it and felt its low purr. It recognized his imprint and woke up instantly, shining in bright greens and a distant whisper. A tiny miracle. He felt like he could hug it, but did none of this.

« What... is this ? » everyone went back on guard.

He stayed calm, a bit hurt, but he could understand the reaction. The strong radiance and steady humming, all so familiar to him, seemed completely out of place in this colorless Thedas. Of course such a sight would be unsettling for them. He felt sad as he patted the warm sphere fondly for just a little while before letting go and getting back on his feet.

« I believe this is an Elvhen artifact. I have seen some of those in the Fade, they were used to strengthen the Veil in the old times, chances are that it may help prevent further Veil tears. These would help us greatly if we could find more of them. »

The thrill of finding other ones... They needed them just as much as he did. He sweared silently to mark their locations on some map for further use. This was very good news.

« It sure comes in handy. Just like everything about you Chuckles, how do you do that ? »

« Hush, » the warrior glared at him then went back to Solas « it does sound like something of extreme importance, may I ask you to write down as much as possible on this ? This is some knowledge that could prove critical against the Breach, am I wrong ? »

« You are not, I shall work on this the moment we return. »

They didn't know that they would only get to see half of his report if not less, but he didn't think about this just now, too busy feeling this glee inside, such unexpected emotions. This few days with the Inquisition were already full of these.

« And I'd suggest doing this right now, before we ran into an _eleventh_ _bear_. » added the dalish, both annoyed and sorrowful. It had been a long day. The dwarf shuddered.

« Has it _really_ been ten of them already ? »

* * *

Their absence could now be counted in days yet the expedition was showing no sign of returning. It seemed they had managed to reach Mother Gisèle safely and were slowly succeeding in appeasing the whole region. The Inquisition managed to rally a few agents in the process, and the few Hinterlands refugees who had made the journey to Haven were only speaking ever so highly of her Ellana.

Aelen was proud. Sitting on a small table close to Joséphine's, noting down her requests for a bunch or upcoming artworks. Haven, The Temple, the crossroad, houses getting rebuilt, some tending to the wounded, rifts if given the chance and so on. Featuring the Herald as often as possible. Her work was already piling up, a long-term message to the whole Thedas, she wondered if it was truly necessary, and if they'd even stay around long enough for her to simply complete it all. How much longer could close that breach take, given the swift progress they seemed to be doing ?

She was a bit lost all alone in this cold crowded village. Uneasy, itchy tight skin. She coudn't wait for this all to be over.

* * *

The next day saw the whole group brought to a village North West to gather mounts. It had been only three days and they were already doing a lot of long-term planning. History. Front seat. He followed, watching, occasionnaly raising barriers or summoning ice magic. The family living there needed help and the squad agreed right away. Demons, bandits, lost cattle, _destructive wolves_. The farm was cornered with danger to such extent they could barely leave their houses at all. He was glad for the Inquisition to pay attention to their distress – they could have decided to force these people into compliance by strenght alone but had not.

They started with establishing a new camp right next to them. A few refugees, inspired by the Herald, had already volunteered to join the battle and defend their home with their own hands, given the chance. The Inquisition equipped them and patrols were formed. From terror to determination, uniting for a cause, standing strong for their ground, all it had taken : a role model, gathering around a leader that was allowing them to hope. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

When this was done, they dedicated their afternoon to search the surroundings to secure the place, literally looking out for trouble. Ellana closed rifts, Varric complained about the uneven land and rocks, Cassandra was moving fast forward in silence, ignoring him, and Solas... Was out of himself, mostly probing all around through every corner for more artifacts, for more anything. If one had resisted to the millenias here, there _had_ to be _more_ , he wished, begged innerly. This awareness allowed him to sense something entirely different, an uneasy feeling he took some time to pinpoint. It felt like possession.

He drove the group to a cave, expecting to bump into a new group of mage at any moment, but there were none. In fact, it was empty, and so very dark. Suspicious. That was when a whole pack of wolves jumped at them claws and fangs. The team had been fighting together a lot, and they were perfectly able to take positions on such short notice. Shield, barrier, arrows and ice were deployed right away. These were the creatures Solas had been hearing all along, he knew then. It was weird to see them attack in such an uncoordinated manner. Possessed, it made sense. He noticed it then : a terror demon, undoubtly more powerful than usual, moving in the far distance, observing. It dived into the ground when it realized someone had seen it and reappeared right in the middle of the fight, screeching. It would take more than that to unsettle the mage, though to the others it was a different story. Remorsefully, he dealt a great magic blow to the beasts.

Their blood was everywhere. Wolves had always been avoinding him ever since he'd woken up, respect, reverence, they'd never attacked him. It felt just like they _knew_. And yet, at this moment, none of this was left. Bloodshot eyes, murderous growl, aimed at him, at them. Because of this demon, because of the rifts, because of the orb, because of-

Hurting them under such circumstances, pawns of some other will, was devastating. He had to do just that. A few of them were already dead, so he didn't waste any more time and attacked the demon with all his might. With chance, he would be able to save a few of them. The rest of the team switched their focus to it as soon as they managed to get a grip on themselves. When it was finally over, a weird silence felt on the whole place. Only for their breathing, there was none other. A slaughter.

Solas made a few steps in to stroke the warm piles of bloodied fur. « You fought well, fierce ones » he said in a whisper, grieving, swearing not to forget about them either.

« No wonder these people were freaking out... Possessed by a damn demon ! » said Varric in disbelief, « Hang in there Light ! »

« I'm fine, I'm...fine » she said, half collapsed on the ground. This had been an intense battle, she hadn't felt so close to death in a while.

Solas was then able to sense it, the new artifact lying in the obscurity, providing the slightest bit of comfort. He activated it.

« Another one ? » asked the Seeker.

« This way, these creatures should not be at risk of possession any longer. What reminds of them. »

He paused to watch the elf approaching the bodies, silently paying respects and proceeding to retrieve materials in her dalish ways. He hid away from their sight to wipe a lone tear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM NOT DRAWING THIS


	9. Peace

No one would disturb her inside the luxurious tent, she'd stay at peace just there most of the time, drawing at the table, resting her feet right over the fire glyph every now and then. It was very quiet, as if people were actually avoiding the place. Not that she would complain. Quiet made perfect, she could concentrate, she could get lost in her own mind, she was able to be. But on this day, as her last at Haven for a while, Aelen decided to try to eat with everyone, which was of course to say with the elves. She was seating close to Nyhrin in the elven stash. She wished that would bring back memories, but except for Ellana's form fonding on hers, her first moments within the village were a total blackout. It was unsettling.

« So how's your new job going ? » the elf asked 

« Better than carrying stuff for sure... » She was still very ashamed of her uselessness back then. « They will get me to produce pictures of the victories of the Inquisition. That Lady seems _pleased_ with me so far. And you, are you alright ? It seems there's been even more of these crates going around... »

« Pretty much, this boss of yours is working well. I've never seen so many merchants in such a short time. They've started sending stuff back lately, to back up the Herald they say. »

« Ha, yes, I know. I'm going with the next one actually... »

Aelen was staring at her feet. As the hour of departure drew near she was getting anxious. There were still so much trouble outside, stepping out of the fences truly didn't feel like a good idea at all. She couldn't help but think waiting for Ellana to return would be way safer. It was a bit overwhelming.

« Are you ? Why ? They're getting you to draw the flowers or something ? »

She laughed nervously at that. She was feeling sick.

« Well... Something like this. I... I mentionned I couldn't draw properly without reference so I'm kind of sent to retrieve it by myself but... I'm not sure... » she met Nyhrin's eyes « The rifts and fights aren't all gone yet are they ? Let alone the infamous bears. What am I going to do if... » She never finished this sentence. « I _can't_ fight you know. »

« You won't be by yourself. These convoys have always been leaving with a pack of guards. It'd be stupid of them to let one of their few carriages get robbed away. I bet you'll be even safer than you're here. Plus you're the Herald's friend, don't forget. »

She stared at her plate. « I hope you're right... » But she still kind of wished she could dig a hole and stay there for the three following years until the whole mess had calmed down for good.

Her hands were trembling when she got to the front carriage, right behind the great doors of the village. She was going to leave, she was actually going to leave, for real, the Breach still hovering in the cloudy sky. She glanced at the remote life of Haven, small figures ever so busy, overflowing with energy. She'd been living there for these past few days. Now all kind of thoughts were crossing her mind from her tiny seat, arms wrapped around her bag, filled with sketching furnitures and a bit of dry food. She could feel the lukewarm metal chest key resting under her neck. Would she ever get back ? Would Ellana take her to some faraway place next ? Did she know she was coming ? Would they even meet ?

Two other persons joined her inside – messengers it seemed – and they took off.

* * *

Standing next to master's Dennet house, staring at the nothing, slowly breathing, motionless, was Solas. He was letting the talking to the others. The area was somewhat at peace at this moment, thus the human man was agreeing to lend his horses. The last and only condition was for the Inquisition to help them build watchtowers all around the farm to offer them a way to defend themselves eventually. A fair idea, he thought, and so thought the other members of the team, apparently. The conversation went on, without him : he was too busy _feeling_. His toes on the grass, the wind on his fingertips and face, the sun on his skin, the smells and, closing his eyes, remnant bits of magic. One wreck of a world, living its last moments, filled with people who were lacking so much, yet they could still suffer, and – oh – were they suffering. As long as he would remember their sacrifice wouldn't have been in vain, so in this moment, he was trying to just feel. As much as he could. The consequences of his doing, acknowledging it all to give it a chance, lend it a tiny bit of future. Wolves howling in the distance, the usual sound, proud, feral, whole. Life, going on as he exhaled deeply. The rest of the group then exited the house. He turned to them, ready to drift along on this new mission of theirs.

Though they didn't set to work right away : they'd figured out they would need some way to pinpoint the chosen locations of the upcoming constructions and little piles of rocks probably wouldn't be enough. That was a good thing the Seeker had advised on requesting banners to mark their influence as it progressed further across the hills. Those would do just fine, they thought. They had to get back to the main camp to retrieve a handful of them as the first ones were coming with the very next carriage. They used this spare time to collect herbs and minerals as they came up on the way. Solas got to talk to Cassandra a bit, it was filled with respect on both sides, pleasing. In the background, the dalish was joking with the dwarf a lot, one on sensing stones and the other munching on elfroots all day. They travelled the small journey as if nothing was on, just sort of making friends. They were all surprisingly getting along, it seemed. Even Varric and Cassandra weren't actually fighting.

They were all especially nice to him on this day, did they notice how affected he had been by the wolf issue ? He wondered, trying not to dwell in it and focus on their activity instead. He couldn't help realising though, that it had been a long time since people had allowed him to be so carefree. Except for the support role, there was no real expectations on him. He would follow, raise barriers, explain a few things as they came up, even get to speak about the fade with the Herald and other interesting things with the two others, and that was all. No pressure, no torment, only being. A welcome respise at such an exhausting time. He would have been on the verge of giving up otherwise, that was certain.

They had arrived when the convoy reached the Crossroad right before the early winter night fell. There was a lot to unpack : weapons and armours for the new volunteers, food and blankets for everyone, some banners of the Inquisition. A slight change in the veil followed the sudden burst of activity. The group was dismissed, thus he drew away from the center to reach out to help an old elven lady, moving with difficulty.

« Has anything happened. » he uttered to her hear. 

« A powerful mage's been secluding themselves up there and a child of the people is suffering from a terrible lung illness. She needs a specific medicine, she's with her desperate husband inside that cabin. »

« Ma serannas, Lethallan. Please stay safe. »

One of the messengers from the convoy, elf, discretly slid a letter into his pocket while passing by. He was glad to see they had been able to enter Léliana's team safely. All things taking their place.

* * *

Aelen jumped out of her seat to the ground. The Hinterlands, burnt forests, crumbling houses. It was probably a very nice place until not long ago, she thought. Now everyone seemed to have gathered around in a single big camp, filled with the Inquisition's heraldry, whose picture she was there to carve into her memory to retrace on paper. She'd have to live up to this task, but as there were so many people it was way less scary than expected. And the feeling dropped to none as she spotted her herald friend up the hill. She went to her shyly and got glomped in return.

« Aelen ? What are _you_ doing here ? Everything's alright ? »

« Hi. » she was suddenly very embarrassed. How could one explain this, even ? « I'm sort of... on duty. »

« On... Duty ? What are they making you do. » she anwsered, squinting. 

« ...Propaganda ? You know, drawing your feats. »

Ellana burst into laughter. Aelen blushed even further.

« Alright I see. Good that you're finally back to drawing. And you had to come here ? » She said as soon as she'd been able to catch her breath. 

« You know, backgrounds. I needed to see the region for myself. »

« Ha, I see. » she nodded, then sat on the grass. The other girl follower her down. 

« So » the elf continued « How come you're doing that now ? What happened ? I hope people were good to you while I was out. »

« Everything's been fine. It's all my fault actually, I was getting bored and looked around for stuff to do... At first I was offered to help carry crates around but... »

« And you weren't exactly suited for this. »

Ellana laughed again as the girl nodded in shame. But it wasn't that bad as this was a song she loved more than anything.

« I was with Nyhrin, do you remember them ? I somewhat ended up mentionning that I used to draw and they straight up told me to go to the master merchant lady. »

« Do you mean Joséphine ? »

« Ha yes, of course you do know her. She asked me for a demonstation, was satisfied, and here I am. »

« Joséphine seems decent, I'm glad you're under her supervision, there were way worse shems to get. »

« … I agree. » It was a relief to hear that her friend was having this same opinion on the Montilyet lady. 

« She's actually going to be the ambassador of the Inquisition. You've got a spot of importance haha, well done. »

« Oh really ? » Now that she was thinking about it, her art mission was making even more sense. 

« So you need to see the land... How about coming with us tomorrow then ? We're going to explore and find nice spots to set watchtowers. It'd be perfect to get a good look at the area, plus we'd need someone to carry the banners in case a fight came up, but the chances are dim, we've cleared away most trouble already. Killed a lot of things and people. »

Her eyes were a bit empty as she said that. Aelen froze. Her cheerful friend, as bright as ever, of course she had bloodied hands by now already. She gave her a concerned look but the elf seemed alright, it just had to be done. Her gaze went full of sparkles right as she turned up to her to add :

« And this team is _so strong_ ! We're fighting well together now, nothing can even hurt us anymore ! » She was super proud.  « Be warned : the place is truly filled with bears. We had to hunt down a few of them to make any progress at all sometimes and it was awesome ! »

Aelen stayed silent just for a little while, contemplating her radiance. « You look like you're having fun... »

« Well, yes. I am. Hunting with capable people – for once – doing something important and being obeyed by shems. That Cassandra Pentaghast has even started following my decisions. I can't wait to see what comes next. This is a chance I won't let slip by. Even after closing the Breach if I actually get to. »

She was staring at the bustling crowd with bloodlust. Aelen leaned on her shoulder.

« I know you won't. Please try not to overwork yourself though. »

She smiled softly. « I'll do what I can. »


	10. Exploration

« Are you sure about this ? » Asked Cassandra.

« Absolutely. She needs to take a look at the region, she'll be able to drag the banners around, plus : extra backpack. Solas' can only take so much in. »

« My rucksack is best suited for a single person's use. »

« Exactly. So she's coming. It'll be fine, there's almost no one left around anyway, and patrols all over the place. The risk is none. »

One shouldn't get Solas started on these supposed perfect plans. He walked away just a bit to avoid displaying bitterness. She was young, she'd have such a short life – especially given the context – of course this dalish girl would say something like this. He was wearing gloves today and started fussing with them. He was irritated, confused, curious. This night again he hadn't been able to reach his agents, though for a whole other reason. He'd noticed the change in the Veil, but it was a whole other story when getting to sleep. There was something, a presence, that was affecting its shape, it was coiling, entangling, he couldn't move around. He would just get pulled into a wide empty place, devoid of shapes or voices. He had never seen something like this before and it was... unsettling. He had to figure it out and fast as it was hindering his whole strategy. His agents had to take the risk to write their report down on actual paper and get it passed to him. This was way too dangerous and he couldn't allow this.

His focus was aimed at this human girl. The odd feeling seemed to follow her around, she was definitely suspicious. The note said she had stayed overly friendly to his agents, she was even using the 'shemlen' slur. If she truly could block his dreams, coupled with the anchor 'accidentally' going to her accomplice, this was opening a wide range of possibilities. He had to be careful.

It seemed Léliana was also actively investigating the two behind the scenes, starting with clan Lavellan, one of which Solas hadn't visited in the past year. Located in the nothern Free Marches, they were apparently known for their diplomatic manners, there was no records of threats of any kind. It was all in accord with the Herald's story so far. There was nothing about the human yet. He was thinking. There was also the possibility for her to be acting alone, approaching elves to manipulate and deceive. She didn't seem the type, though he had long learnt not to judge by looks. This day was the occasion to observe both of them interacting. He sharpened his focus, ready to unleash as soon as needed.

* * *

The banners were light, they'd been crafted quickly and were rather simple. Aelen took five of them into her arms. Five poles to mark five upcoming watchtowers. A few sheets and charcoal neatly arranged in a small box at the bottom of her bag and she was ready to go. She was excited. With Ellana by her side, she was feeling the safest. They had already gone so far together. Always unharmed, until the recent events. This time there was even three other good fighters. It was making her confident. She held tight on the poles as they traveled to the farm.

As Ellana had guessed, there was no danger there. The dalish would throw glances around, plant a banner at the top of some hill, and repeat a bit further. The village was rather small, thus it wasn't a complicated task. From the last spot, especially high, the view of the valley was nice and Aelen decided on setting there to sketch. She laid a napkin on the ground, sat on it, unpacked and set to work. She quickly drew the attention of the whole team, except for Ellana who was keeping watch. Solas stared from afar in order to keep both girls in sight at every moment. No one knew about the artistic purpose of her coming along but the dalish. Cassandra couldn't help but look at the paper in wonder, and Varric didn't miss the opportunity to make fun of said woman.

« Haven't you ever scribbled, Seeker ? »

« I was given lots of things but never any free time. I wish I had though. »

Aelen joined « It's never too late, it all comes with practice. »

« … Maybe when the Breach is closed then. But I doubt there would not be another matter coming up... There will always be plenty to do. It might just be too late, actually. » She sighed. 

« If you don't have the time, you just have to _take_ it. It's all matter of priorities ! You'd risk waiting your life out otherwise. »

Aelen shivered at the murderous 'What could you possibly know' glare Cassandra gave him then, and she decided to just get done with her sketch quickly and escape from the awkward position. She outdid herself and was finished under five minutes. Her hands were full of coal so she asked about going to the nearby river to wash them over.

« Did you hear that ? » whispered Ellana, alert.

« It came from this way. » Solas answered, gesturing upstream.

« Elven hearing, alright. » uttered Varric, before they all started approaching the place, guard raised and Aelen tailing from some distance.

The two elves lead them to a hidden cave. It was like none they had seen so far : an actual entrance, carved in the stone, with a hundred stairs. It looked like a dungeon, and the voices were echoing from the bottom. They didn't sound like farmers.

« Probably where the thugs' been hiding the whole time. » whispered Ellana.

The elves entered then, cautious. Cassandra softly called out to them before going any further.

« Wait... It is too dark, we cannot see a thing in there. »

« You can't ? Oh. » Ellana remembered that not everyone had these convenient glowy eyes.

« Let us use this. » Said Solas, approaching a metal object hanging on the wall, it looked like a rusty torch. A swift gesture and green flames appeared out of it. He motionned the human girl to take it.

« We will need our hands free, follow from afar so they shall not notice the light. Just enough for us not to trip on anything. »

Questions would come later, for now they descended, slowly. It was even bigger inside, there were crates scaterred everywhere, another corridor and even more stairs. They kept going, the voices getting louder and louder. These were definitely bandits, planning their next attack on the villagers. Ellana soundlessly dealt with the bandit that was keeping watch, Solas launched a surprise magic attack and the fight was on, easily won on their side in a minute. They waited until they'd made sure there was no one else around to disarm.

« It seems that was where they stocked their lootings. People will be glad to get them back. » the herald said before turning to her friend, noticing she was still petrified in the middle of the last set of stairs. She approached her.

« Hey, you alright ? »

« I... »

The fire was behaving oddly, Solas could sense it growing, strenght quickly increasing, intensifying greens.

« So, what manner of fire is that ? » asked Cassandra, inspecting it from up close.

« I have heard of this but never seen it before. It is called veilfire. » he approached as well, « it is a form of sympathetic magic, a memory of flame that burns in this world where the veil is thin. »

« Sympathetic, you say. » She hovered a hand close to it.

The girl wasn't listening anymore, staring at the fire, losing herself in. Soft voices whispering in her head, words of the distant past, hundred of entangled stories, dancing in green warmth and pulling her over. She could feel the kind heat reaching her nose, her cheeks, ears, was it getting closer ? She couldn't tell, mesmerized. The whole scenery disappeared, only left whites and greens.

« Indeed, it cannot hurt anyone... » he stopped mid-sentence.

Then he took it out from her hands, the thing had been about to jump at her face. She made a step back, almost falling to the wall, blind and disoriented. He squinted, no one else had noticed anything of course, the herald rushing to her side in worry.

« No I'm fine I'm sorry. »

The veilfire was just normal in his hand. Sure he had 'never seen it before', under the name _veil_ fire, but it was absolutely never supposed to do this. He tried giving it over to the dalish who took it, and there was no specific reaction either. It was the girl, again.

« There's something here. » Ellana said, using the torch to light a part of the wall. A pattern started glowing in response in a tiny ringing. « Ah ! »

« This is an elven rune. The veilfire must be making it legible. » signaled the mage.

Cassandra took a look at it « This looks like a weapon enchantment. It could be useful. We should take notes of this. »

Their eyes went to Aelen, but she was still stunned, sitting on the stairs, confused with a faint headache.

« I will take care of this. » concluded Solas, getting his own paper out of his bag.

« Great, now if you please excuse me, not all dwarves are so fond of caves, I'll just go before growing a beard out, and escort the girl outside, I think she could use some fresh air. » Said Varric, lending her a hand to stand.

Cassandra went with them to keep watch, one could never been sure this had been the last of these bandits, and that's how the two elves ended up alone, at the bottom of the dungeon, faces barely lit by the sweet magic flames.

« Your little friend is... Interesting. »

« She's always been an artist, it's been a while since she practiced at all but I'm glad she does now. And she's sensitive, I hope these... bodies won't weight on her mind for long. I didn't think about that. »

So that was her reading on the matter. « You two are an unusual pair. I don't recall of dalish ever taking humans in, I wonder how did you even meet. »

« Just as you say, it's unusual. Let's say I've been taking care of her. Such interest, love at first sight maybe ? » she asked with a smirk.

« I am merely curious. It seems this inquisition just keeps proving full of the oddest encounters. Though I suspect I am no different. »

« That's right, mysterious fade-walker. Where do you even come from ? You're not dalish am I wrong ? »

« Indeed. I am from a small village in the North, not on any map ever, you would not know about it. »

« Sounds like you've been strolling around for a very long time ? That's when you've started studying the fade ? »

« There was little to interest a young man there, especially one gifted with magic. But as I slept, the spirits of the Fade showed me glimpses of wonders I had never imagined. I treasured my dreams. Being awake, out of the Fade, became troublesome. But eventually I was unable to find new areas in the Fade and I would never find more unless I travelled. »

« Really, why ? »

« Two reasons : first, the Fade reflects the world around it. Second, it reflects and is limited by our imaginations. To find interesting areas, one must be interesting. »

« That's why you've agreed to join the inquisition ? »

« I joined because we are all in terrible danger. If our ennemies destroy the world, I would have nowhere to lay my head while dreaming of the Fade. »

« Haha, dreamy people are just everywhere. It's kind of fascinating. I wish you luck then, for the sake of your naps. »

« Thank you. In truth, I've enjoyed experiencing more of life to find more of the Fade. »

« You have ? »

« You train to flick an arrow to its target. The grace with which you move is a pleasing side benefit. You have chosen a path whose steps you do not dislike, because it leads to a destination you enjoy. As have I. » to this he folded his notebook back, finished.

« I see... Wait, are you suggesting I'm graceful ? »

« No, I am declaring it. »

She was shocked, she wasn't expecting something like this, to be told with such honesty. An introvert throwing compliments around, surprising, it was picking her interest greatly. But before she could react, a voice came from upstairs.

« Are you two done yet ? It's high noon, we should move on. »

« Ha, yes ! » answered the dalish. « We're coming. » She asked Solas then, pointing at the fire : « What do I even do with this now ? How do we turn it off ? »

« It reacts to your lifeforce, the flames will go out as soon as you put it back to its place. »

« That's way too convenient, I wish I could take it with me. Wait, couldn't I ? »

« It seems it has been unused for decades if not more, I see no objections to it. »

« Yess, eternal candle ! »

« Though you will need a mage to re-enlighten it every now and then. »

« Great, now we've just found you yet another reason to stick around. »

They exchanged a sidelong gaze and hurried to the surface.


	11. Irritation

They informed the villagers that they could retrieve their belongings from the cave safely, which brought the inquisition yet another stream of gratitude, then they went to the camp to drop their things down. Before Solas got any time to think about this specific matter, the old elven man came begging for the Herald to retrieve medicine from the cult in the southern hills. They left immediately, Aelen still following them around as if it was only natural. Since their dealing with the renegade mages and templars, the area was quite safe so it did go alright, inquisition soldiers and vonlunteers were seen patrolling around every now and then, but the gates of said cult were closed tightly as the group reached them. One could see a rift in the back of the keep, and people standing all so close.

« What are they doing ? » Cassandra winced.

A human in robes came to them.

« I know you. They call you the 'Herald of Andraste' for what you did at Haven. But are you ? The Maker has not told me. »

« Well I don't know about that, but this rift I can see back there, you should get away from it. » answered the dalish.

« Ha. So stories of you mastering the rifts are just heresy as I suspected. Why should we listen to you ? »

« No, I _can_ actually seal rifts. »

« Then prove it. Show me that the rifts bend to your will, the will of the Maker. Show me the power you wield. »

As the gate opened, they could hear discussions echoing in the background. This place was so lively for holding a whole rift right in the middle. It was a miracle it hadn't turned into a slaughter yet.

« The chantry has fallen, and shown its imperfection in doing so. The chant of Light was a lie. The Maker has opened the sky. Soon He will call His chosen back to the Golden City. »

Cassandra threw a soft disgusted noise. « Fools. »

« I suppose it only natural that some would turn to worshipping the Breach... If only in hopes of appeasing it. » said Solas, sighing.

Another voice was praying : « When the demons have cleansed the unworthy, the faithful will be lifted up. »

« Hmm. So that's how it is. » shrugged Varric.

« Good that we've made it in time. Aelen stay far. » ordered Ellana.

« Ah... yes ! »

They walked in swift steps toward the inner garden where the rift was waiting. Whispers sourrounding them, their identity a mystery for noone, which was the very nice outcome of their few days spent running in all directions and helping in everything they could. They were doing excellent.

The girl, in the back, could gather more words.

« The demons prey upon the innocent, but our faith is strong. » « Do you not feel the pull of the maker in the signs in the sky ? » « I don't know much about that. I know the mages and templars want to kill each other. I think the Maker wants me to find someplace far away from them. » « We will _find_ peace in the world to come. » « My lady came to the conclave to support the Divine. When she died, I was lost. But then I heard the words of Speaker Anaïs, and I knew I had found my new home. »

It was just the same as everyone else in the region, people were desperate and struggling to hold on something to believe in.

The tear reacted to the mark and demons started passing through. The battle was on. It was the first and maybe only time Aelen was witnessing her friend dealing with a rift, she had every intention to take it all down in mental notes and watched with unmatched concentration. Arrows, barriers, shield, more arrows, traps, ice and fire, all handled with amazing coordination. A few times, her friend would stretch her hand out to trouble the rift, which resulted in the demons getting disoriented. It was truly a one-way battle. For the best. The spectators started hailing them.

« You really did close it ! You do bear the blessing of Andraste. Tell us, Herald, whatever we could do for you, we will gladly abide. » said the speaker Anaïs amid the great cheering.

Soon half of them had started kneeling. Ellana was taken aback for a moment but stood firm, savouring this precious instant, harvesting confidence. She brushed her eyes onto the back of the numerous lowered heads for a moment. Time suspended. She smiled.

« Please assist us in taking care of the refugees. Open your doors to them and provide the strenght and warmth they need, we can only do so much on our own down there. »

« Is that all ? »

« That’s plenty. »

« We shall follow your word then, lady Herald. »

« Is there any Hyndel elven mage around, by the way ? »

A few meters away, Varric approached Aelen, still marveling at this victorious picture. It was even more impressive than she had imagined. She was left there speechless as her friend had swayed their hearts just like this. Her glowing hand slowly turning back to rest.

« Hey, stop with these starry eyes, it’s getting dazzling. »

« ...Eh ? ...Oh ! » She was at a loss first and then a bit embarrassed. She turned away to hide.

« Nah it’s okay. I understand. Not easy to walk by a hero, right ? »

He was right in many different ways.

* * *

« Excuse me ? » Ellana said coldly, unimpressed, before Solas could even react. He was irritated but she had a very strong presence at this instant that cut him short. Everyone stayed still. Silence fell upon the whole room. It was scary. Aelen made a few steps away very carefully, dreading.

She resumed. « What the hell is wrong with you. » It was on. Solas stared at her intently. Then at him, the poor Hyndel boy. Ellana : « What were you thinking ? Giving up on your _family_ just like this and still pretend you’re concerned with your mother’s health at all when you were the only one able to make her medicine in the first place and still left them behind. And you told them they just had to come over ? Do you really think an old couple of farmers was in any way capable of even REACHING this place at all through the wars and demons ? » She snapped entirely.  « They would have got killed if not for our coming there. Do you realise you almost killed your parents out of selfishness ? Do you ? What is your magic for if not protecting your people ? That’s exactly why shems give you mages so much shit ! » The boy was staring at the ground. « If we elves don’t stand for each other, who the hell is going to ? Creators. I can’t believe it. » She turned around, staring into space. « Do you _understand_ what I am saying ? »

« Ye- »

« _Really_  ? »

« Calm down, Light. What’s done is _done_. We’ve all been stupid once. »

She sighed heavily at the dwarf. He wasn’t even _that_ younger. She knew she was being too hard on him but there was no helping it. Elves always had to stick together in order to resist and survive. All the time. This boy was a complete _abominatio_ _n_ to her. Alas, she wasn’t very happy with this pun.

« I understand, lady Herald. I regret what I have done. Thank you for showing me the way. I will return by my family promptly and ensure that everyone stays safe from now on. »

Solas laid a hand on the dalish’s shoulder. It was calming. « Please understand that you must never neglect your people, da’len, » he said, « For that it is all you ever truly have. Do not _take the world away from them_. Life is already hard enough as is. »

She looked at him and dropped her arms. They were on the same wavelenght, that was making things easier. She relaxed for a bit. At least she wasn’t just making a scene by herself. It was nice having someone siding with her in times like these. And coming from another elf, it had its own load.

« I am sorry that I offended you. You're right, I will go back to them and do what I can to help them as well as the inquisition there. »

« Thanks. Priority on your family but any help is welcome. »

She stormed out of the room in need of fresh air, quickly followed by everyone else. She sat on the edge of the deck outside.

« What a scare out there, Light. You know how to show disapproval for sure. Poor kitten. »

« I agree with her though. » Solas answered to Varric.

« We should escort him. It is dangerous to go alone for now. » Cassandra added, gazing at the valley downwards. »

« Sure. » the dalish said. « Whatever. I’m sorry it’s a sensitive matter to me. I’ll put myself together. »

« Let’s depart as soon as we can, hopefully we will make it in time to rescue his mother. » Solas lended his hand, which she took.

« Let’s help him pack. » Ellana decided. « Maybe go to him without me, I’d probably only make him nervous. » she sighed. « I’ll walk around and do stuff. Find me when it’s all set. »

She took a peek at the little life the people had built there, slipping through the shadows. It was a nice little community, thankfully she did close that rift and managed to save them. They weren’t harming anyone. She hoped they would actually help the people across the hinterlands. Given the amount of food she found while lurking around, there had to be a fair amount of money there. Rich people – humans – were dangerous. She had to bet on their faith. Pretend she is blessed by the god of the shem cult. It would be fine. As long as she closed rifts, they wouldn’t have a choice but to follow. What if that hand could also _open_ rifts ? It would only make sense that it could. Maybe she would be able to threaten the reluctant ones ? Heh, she had to go smooth or they would probably kill her off on the first occasion.

« We can go now. _Your holiness_. »

Her friend was standing above her. Ellana was playing with her curly hair, lying on the floor in a remote corner.

« Shut up. » She hoped on her feet. « You always know where to find me huh. I’m coming. »

The girl patted her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah I hate arguments ;_;


	12. Science

Solas sat on his bedroll. The Hyndel boy had returned to his family, the place was getting proper feeding, the watchtowers were already under construction, volunteers soldiers patrolling and repelling bears and thugs. Nearby rifts closed. Word of the inquisition was quickly going around as reported by his elves. It was high time to strike while the iron is hot and make use of this new fame before the ennemy could get any time to organise. The ennemy being the chantry at this point. There still was no sign of Corypheus nor the Venatoris. He lied down. The dead wolves. He wished he could have done more. Elven boy leaving his family behind. He was glad he didn’t get to speak, as he would have taken all his past frustration with the dalish people on him.

« Tired, Chuckles ? » Varric entered the tent and sat on his own spot.

« Yes. But I still get to write about the elven artifact. Sadly there is no time to rest. »

« You know what, I’ll join you and … note stuff down aswell. For science. »

« May I ask ? »

« Mere tidbits. But you never know when they’d actually turn into something on their own. Don’t tell the others. It’s not even started. »

« Ha ha. » he snorted « You work to keep the memories of this world, it is the influence of the shaperate ? »

« Hush, fade lover. » he nudged him « Let’s get working. »

* * *

The words of mother Gisèle echoed through the wind. Ellana was thinking. Her tiny fade-magical-dalish-sent-by-andraste-self was to meet with the angry chantry shems of Val Royeaux. 'Make them doubt', she'd said. _What could possibly go wrong_. She wouldn’t be alone but there was no telling if they wouldn’t try to get her head cut off right away. In her crossroad tent, she looked at Aelen.

« We will be leaving for Orlais by tomorrow, so that’s where we part again. »

« I understand. » She was sad but there was no helping it. It was already such a miracle that they’d got to meet so soon, she was aware of that.

« Done with your landscapes ? »

« Not yet, I’m going to stay for a bit longer, not much. Then I will go back if they do let me in. »

« Don’t be silly, you’re under Josie’s protection, everything is alright. »

« I’m sorry. »

Always overly worried, this girl. The dalish patted her head. She thought about her previous fainting. « Are you alright ? No headache anymore ? I’m sorry I’ve dragged you into that creepy place. »

« Ha, right, that. I don’t really remember what happened. It’s weird. I should probably try to relax a bit… Sorry, I’m useless. »

« Stop. » she gave a tiny slap on her head « Just draw, that’s all that’s expected from ya. »

« Yes. »

Cassandra called the herald over, leaving the girl alone. She watched her back disappear as it slipped out of the tent. She then looked at their things, neatly piled in the corners. Soon these wouldn’t be lying together anymore. She laid her fingers on the pretty knives, on various stuff, on this weird iron pole. It lit up green.

« AAh » she jolted away as she removed her hand. Right. That was the magic fire thing from earlier. Her memories were so blurry. It did react to touch. She put her hand back on it. It lit again, pretty.

Their was a familiar sensation. Wasn’t she holding this when she almost collasped ? She couldn’t tell. It was appeasing. Warm. A cotton blanket. She closed her eyes. She’d swear she could feel it gently stroking her cheeks. It was filling her heart somehow. There was a soft tone floating, faraway whispers. She felt her back slowly bending. She didn’t know, she didn’t care, that she was curling up around the small flame. She was at peace.

* * *

Solas felt a very strange pull. From right behind him. It was the tent of the two girls, but the feeling didn’t seem to come from the anchor. It was the fade itself. What was that, though ? It… It… What. They could be in danger, probably, maybe. Anyway, he had to investigate. He rested on his palms and closed his eyes. To the fade.

But it didn’t work. The fade wasn’t working. All he could reach was this empty pastel space, again, the same that had been spreading around Haven the previous days. There was no more doubt, the girl was the source. Whatever was happening he would finally put his finger on it. He ignored Varric’s questionning and as-calmly-as-he-possibly-could jumped out of the tent.

The wall was right there. What could he do. Take a peek ? Into the girls’ tent ? As if he could afford such concerns. There was a green ray filtering from between the fabrics, he entered without further ado.

His jaw dropped.

* * *

Was she still in Thedas ? She wondered as she opened her eyes. There was this cotton feeling all over her body. She felt… Transparent. Like a dream. All around her, fire. A cave. Green mist. And voices. She turned around, countless faint shapes were moving through one another. They seemed elven and scared, frozen. Countless feelings from countless hearts displaying before her. They all gathered close to the campfire in a small pile of life. Some of them seemed standing, in arms, by an entrance. It looked like the cave from the hinterlands that they had visited earlier.

Aelen’s eyes met with a child’s. It was disturbing. She assumed they were looking past her for a moment, but they slowly raised their finger towards her, about to say something,

And it all disappeared.

She felt torn apart as she got her sense of gravity back. She was lying on the floor, hurting badly, head fuzzy, skin burning. She had no idea where she was, or what time it was, or anything at all. What was her name again. Something was holding her shoulders, shaking them. Someone.

« Wake up now ! »

« W- »

It was Solas, she remembered him. Tall elf, a bit intimidating, getting along with Ellana. Where was she ? She opened her eyes. The torch was thrown away at the opposite side of the tent. Silence. He was staring right at her hard with a mixed expression. The troubling aura dissipating quickly. She had been talking to the fade, there was no doubt about it to him.

« What… happened ? » she asked

« That’s... ! » He was at a loss. « You were in the Fade, right ? Never did you mention you could do that ? » Mind racing.

« What ? I… was… asleep ? » She looked at the situation. There was no other explanation. « I just fell asleep. Probably. Ouch » She put a hand behind her head. « I literrally fell. »

He didn’t know what to make of this. He squinted at her.

« Wait, why are _you_ here ? » She squinted back.  « Has anything happened ? Where’s Ellana ? What time is it ? »

« It is still noon, I do not know about the Herald, and I… sensed the strong vibration from the Veil, coming right from you. Now explain to me. I cannot oversee something like this. »

She was relieved because there was still time before they departed, but she was quickly starting to freak out. Solas retrieved the torch.

« You are no mage so how were you doing that ? »

« What ? I was merely looking at it… I think ? What do you mean ? What happened ? » She was scared.

He paused, considering.

« There is something here that I must investigate, especially if you truly _do not_ know. » Which he doubted.

« ...Okay ? » She had no idea what this was all about, but she was certainly growing anxious nonetheless.

Time passed, she went to work on her drawings, he followed her around. She couldn't concentrate on anything at all, and everything seemed back to usual as Solas checked on the Fade several times.

« What’s up you two ? » asked Ellana passing by.

« We’re both on _duty_. » answered the other elf plainly. Aelen was trying to sketch but simply breathing was hard.

« Heh. » She looked at the girl, who seemed obviously nervous. She squinted. « Tell me if he’s bothering you alright ? »

« Be at ease, lady Herald. I will not do anything unnecessary. » he said, standing straight. Whatever the little human was up to, he was confident in his ability to handle. As long as Corypheus didn't pop out from her shadow. The two left.

« Maybe they’re just getting along well ? » Asked Varric out of nowhere.

« I wonder about that. » She stared at them as they went, suspicious.

* * *

« Did you find anything ? » Aelen asked, it had been a few hours.

« The feeling is truly gone. It has to be related to the fire. We shall make you hold it once more. »

« I… Would rather not... » she was trembling at the thought.

He considered. « You have nothing to fear from me as long as you are not the ennemy. I must ensure of this now. Please hold this. I am going to protect you, was anything to happen. The Fade is a most familiar place to me. »

She reluctantly lent her hand and took hold of the black pole. It was warm upon touch. She stared at Solas for a moment, distressed, but the quiet flames slowly drew her attention away, and took over eventually. The veil started waving around them. *There it is* thought the elf, Aelen was drifting away. He took her other hand, whatever place she was going to, this time they would go together.

It appeared they never actually _reached_ the fade. He opened his eyes to a wide empty space. The girl was by his side. It was all pastels.

« This place again. Where is this ? » he asked « This is not the fade, it feels like some in-between area ? »

« Ha I know it here... It's the safe place where I hold my daydreams... » She fluttered, happy, it was her home. « Did you... enter my thoughts ? »

« I did not. This is not your mind. Careful. » This could very much have been a trap. But nothing was coming. The soothing clear colors were dancing slowly, reaching his soul, it was comforting, comfortable, which had him even more alert.

Soon distorted pictures made their way through them, green mist, blurry forms, and fire. Words were resonating in the distance, it was elven. Hundred of whispers surrounding entangled both tired glowy eyes and broken bandaged limbs . He very soon realised that these were a group of rebels elves from the very old times. The fire burnt brighter around them, intensifying.

« What is this ? » said the girl.

« You are seing a memory from the voice of the veilfire. It is speaking to you. Do you not understand what it says ? »

« I don't. Do you ? This is not Common. »

« This is ancient Elvhen. I have learnt it through the Fade. »

« Oh. » she turned to him « What is it saying ? »

A fragment of the past, his past. How could he begin to explain this. The truth was probably the best way at this point, ironically.

« It is a call for help from the ancient People, slaves dragged into a ruthless battle against their former masters. The fire remembers their despair as they were hiding in search for respise. »

She stared at the scene. So this was the past. She had no idea fire could talk, was it alive then ? She truly didn’t know a thing of the world she thought.

Solas stared as well. He might have known some of these souls. His forces were doing well back in the great war of Arlathan. They had been almost winning, but none of this mattered anymore after the fall of their queen followed by the disappearance of magic. Very few of them still lived, in the end, it had all been for nothing. That was what the fire was saying to him. Though was it still telling a memory or his own thoughts and fears, that he was not sure. It was a weird feeling, seing the people again. This was not like his fade naps.

The scenery slowly faded away as they fell out of sleep. When they opened their eyes again, they were back to Thedas. The fire was humming gently between them. Aelen put it down, dizzy.

« This was the Veil. » Solas finally declared. « It let us meet the remnant bits of life the veilfire carried. It let _you_. »


	13. Duty

« What did you do to my girl ? »

They were travelling towards Val Royeaux. Ellana was staring coldly as Solas, reading through some papers.

« Did you ever notice anything weird about _your girl_ ? Because it seems she actually has some connection to the veil in fascinating ways I have never seen before. » He lifted his gaze to her.

« What do you mean, weird ? What is this about ? She is not a mage right ? Are you saying she's in danger ? »

« That is what I tried to figure out yesterday. Just tell me anything you can think of. » he dedicated a small part of his agents to keep watch, sometimes he would manage to reach a few of them. The interference in the fade was fluctuating. He couldn’t wait to study this phenomenon in depth.

Cassandra and Varric were bickering about Kirkwall and politicss a few meters away. Solas didn’t want the Seeker to know before knowing the full details himself. Before knowing how much he could make use of this for his own organisation. Anything fade-related was tactical ressource here.

« Our lives were full of shit you do realise, right ? Mmh. » She paused, thinking. « I think people were actually always avoiding her, some people accused her to be of ill omen. They were probably happy to get rid of us for a while on our mission to the conclave. Nobody was listening to them anyway. I dunno what it's worth. »

« Could you be more specific ? »

« I always assumed it was because she isn’t elven, despite the clan usually trading with other races just fine and stuff. I dunno. There was a thick atmosphere surrounding her, they said. I’ve never felt that way though. »

« Hmm. » he went back to his sheets. « She isn’t elven, but could she be elf-blooded ? »

« How do you know ? »

So he had been right all along. « A feeling. »

« A feeling. » She looked up to the sky. Was there even a _limit_ to his knowledge and abilities, she wondered.  « So what about it, elf-blooded ? »

« One, it explains a bit more her closeness to elves. Second, I doubt you were told so, but the elven people always had a special bond with magic. It helps me understand the situation, making sense out of it. »

« Fine. Whatever can help you make sure she’s safe. We should have brought her along. I’m worried now. Why didn’t you tell me ? »

« She is going to be fine. I will look into it more later I promise. I told her not to touch any magic item. » As if he would let something like this slip by. She did not seem like danger, but he would find a way to sort it all out. He was eager, it had been some time since he’d studied something actually new.

She puffed and fell back into her seat, arms crossed. She wasn’t in the mood to meet with any new boring shem in robes. She’d heard of Orlais, they were going to give her the knife-ear crap all over, at the very least. Worst case scenario they’d have to fight their way out. Of course Aelen was better off at Haven. Gee. So much for trying to save the world. She glanced at the breach in the distance.

* * *

Val Royeaux. The templars had gone rogue. The chantry lady was crouching on the deck in pain. Masked people that had been so very bothered by her ears were not so much staring at them anymore, there was a great turmoil. « Who is going to protect us now ? » « They leave us at such a time ? » basically.

« … What now ? » asked Varric.

« I _knew_ this couldn’t just go well. » pested the dalish. She reluctantly went to the lady to lend her a hand, as no one seemed about to help. It was refused bitterly.

« You must be pleased with the outcome, you fraud. » Hevara threw at them. « May the Maker have mercy. There’s nothing more to see here, begone already. »

Ellana looked at Cassandra, who was still dumbfounded at Lord Seeker Lucius’ betrayal.

« Let’s get back for now... » she finally uttered, stuned.

Right as they were about to leave, a masked elf handed an invitation from the court enchantress. Then, an arrow crashed at their feet with small piece of paper and specific location. They moved their heads right and left, up and down, but they couldn’t find anything amid the agitated crowd.

« Red Jenny. Anyone I am supposed to know ? » asked the herald.

« I don’t know this much about Orlais I’m afraid. » answered the dwarf.

« I am not sure... » said Cassandra.

They didn’t even ask Solas-the-elven-wanderer. The girl folded the paper into her pocket, she would ask Léliana, for both matters. If one knew anything at all it had to be her. They were planning their way back as the Grand Enchanter Fiona discretly approached them for help by the exit. There was just no end to these special requests. It seemed some people were actually taking them seriously in this country.

* * *

No time to pay a longer visit to the shem nobility headquarters : they decided through flying crows to get to Redcliff right away. The matter seemed urgent and that would be a nice way to get the mages to help with sealing the breach. Magic means to solve magic issues. It only felt right. They had all come to an agreement. These ones were peaceful, taking shelter in the village. Ellana already intended to get them as allies, which Solas was glad for.

As they arrived in front of the gates : a rift.

« Careful » said Solas. « The flow of time seems… disrupted here. »

« Say what ? » Varric was squinting.

« Let’s just close it ASAP. » Ellana threw her marked arm in the air. Demons fell out of the fade and jumped at them. It was a very weird battle, their movements would randomly slow down and speed up. They managed nonetheless. Before they could rest, one of their scouts ran to them.

« No one was expecting our arrival here ser, it must be a mistake. »

« What mistake ? There’s clearly something wrong here. We must go. » said the dalish.

« There’s a Tevinter magister in command now. »

Cassandra fell over. Solas screamed internally. The venatoris, there they were. Most likely. What were they plotting now ? He gasped at the thought of effective time magic. They had to go no matter what.

Finding the magister was ridiculously easy. It seemed he had taken a particular interest in the herald. *Of course, they’re after the anchor now.* Solas breathed deeply, bracing himself, ready to face Corypheus at any moment, but the meeting was cut short and post-poned when his son Felix fell over Ellana. Soon they were all thrown out of the room until the next day. They were out, with a message. ‘Come to the Chantry, you are in danger.’

Outside, a young mage walked to them. « Why did you come here, _inquisition_ ? »

« We wanted to offer the mages to join us in exchange for protection. » the herald answered.

« We don’t need your kind here. Your inquisition’s just templars by another name. »

« And so you’d rather go with vints ? » Varric said in disbelief.

« At least as mages _they_ would understand. » She walked off, bitter.

They silently watched her go for a moment. People were all blatantly avoiding them, walking on the opposite side of the road, nervously glancing every now and then.

« The lost ones are quick to throw themselves to new chains out of fear. I am glad I was never locked up in a Circle Tower. »

« It is a wonder you did manage to hide from the templars your whole life long, Solas. » said Cassandra.

« I was very careful. » he joined his hands softly.

« Thank you again for joining. Your expertise is most needed. »

This small appreciation was cut short as they reached the chantry. Inside, a mage fighting against yet another rift by himself. Time magic again. The old elf was dreading.

« There you are, I could use some help here if you please. »

Cassandra drew her blade. « You’re from tevinter ! »

« Let’s say hi later. You can close that right ? »

They thought, won, and struggled to catch their breath back.

« What is it with these time rifts now ? » complained Ellana.

« Yes, exactly. Let me explain. My name is Dorian Pavus, I am indeed a mage from Tevinter. This here is Alexius’ doing. You know, the local magister in charge. The power he’s wielding is wildly unstable, and it’s unravelling the world. Together we’ve come up with a magic amulet that controls the flow of time and that he used to make sure he would get here before you do. You have to stop him. »

« Why should we trust you ? » threw Cassandra.

Felix entered. « My father is involved with a group called the Venatori. » Solas gritted his teeth. « They work to restore Tevinter’s past glory and plan to take control of Thedas. It has started, as you can see. He’s after you next. Whatever he’s done for them, he’s done it to get to you for whatever reason. »

« Let's act fast before the fool wrecks the world now, shall we ? » concluded Dorian.

* * *

A week later, a huge crowd of mages was entering Haven as the return of the herald was announced. Aelen ran to the gates. The party had gone to Redcliff then returned to Val Royeaux. It was certain a lot of things had happened. Among the mages, two stood out as particularly richly dressed, bickering about fashion. The girl couldn’t see her friend anywhere and her heart was heavy. She was starting to miss her greatly, busy as she’d been for such a long time already.

Varric stopped by her.

« Girl, about your small friend, you should know she’s gone through a lot. She’s still a bit in shock. I think it’d be better that you gave her some space for now. »

« … What happened ? »

« Vint magic. » he shruged.

The girl was worrying furiously, already picturing all kinds of things, the worst kinds. The pile of mages passed by, Cassandra closing the march, a few soldiers, some scouts, a flashy archer, Solas sorting out papers as he walked...

There she came. She was walking alone in silence, a dead stare. People greeted her cheerfuly, to whom she answered with a tired wave. She froze when she saw the girl. Aelen didn’t dare moving. Something was wrong, horribly wrong.

The dalish made very slow steps towards her. She was about to say something, then resigned. She lifted a hand to pat her head a bit and quickly walked by, heading to the chantry, followed by three new faces, Cassandra, Solas, Cullen and Leliana. The doors shut in a heavy sound. It wouldn’t reopen until very early on the next day, when they left for the wide East.

* * *

Something had changed within the dalish, the very moment she stepped out of that breach in front of Alexius. Anger, despair, even stronger resolve. She had almost instantly killed the magister with her two side knives in a furious motion and went to complete silence for a few hours afterwards. Then she summomed all of them to the war tent as soon as they got to camp, sat down, breathed deeply and started slowly explaining everything. She had seen a future where she had disappeared, everything had fallen into Corypheus’ [The Ancient] hands, starting with Orlais. The breach had spread to the whole world, the venatoris were growing red lyrium out of everyone, her inner circle sacrificed themselves to give Dorian and her the chance to get back and change the course of history, which was going to happen right now, around this very table. Everyone was appalled by her story. And all believed it without questionning. It was way too big. They went to recruit the previously interested people from Orlais to give the mages the time to prepare their departure, and then went back with everyone at once. It was a bit huge. The inquisition had picked up in power all of a sudden. It was all _real_ now.

When they finally reached Haven, the inner circle and advisors secluded themselves into the war room for eternities. The priority was given to sealing the breach. Maybe this alone would suffice to prevent the worst outcome, they thought. Solas wished this was true. He knew better though. On the side, Vivienne would arrange a meeting with the empress, Cassandra would lead the research of any remaining Seeker, Dorian would tell them everything about the venatoris, the red jennies would stay on high alert across Orlais, Josephine would keep negociating with the rest of the chantry clergy and merchants for better magic equipment, and part of the soldiers support the hinterlands while the rest would stay at Haven to back up the mages, was anything to happen with the breach at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, as well as protecting the huge amount of people that had joined them so far. They’d depart to the temple as soon as the most was set.

Sorting everything out took the whole night. There still was a lone warden in the hinterlands and a request from a mercenary troop in the stormy coasts. In need for every help possible to their approaching great mission, Ellana decided to see to both matters immediately, and so the available people left with her at dawn.

Aelen was quietly sitting at her desk next to Joséphine’s, waiting, she didn’t know for what, but waiting nonetheless. There was a lot of people in Haven, but there was noone at the same time. Nobody she knew, except for the kind Nyhrin and her master Joséphine. Her sketches were dispatched in front of her, the rift-closing she had witnessed had left her with a strong impression, she was working on a big poster. She was thinking about her smile as the herald proudly told them to help the people. The radiance was gone now, it had been killed by some horrible event.

Joséphine eventually stormed into the room, making a few sheets fly away as the door opened wide. She paused to stare at the girl with compassionnate eyes.

« You’re still here. _You_ may go. Don't forget rest, it matters, believe me. And you’ve been working well. » She glanced at the giant sheet.  « Yes, good. Now, no time to spare for me, there’s much to do. » She snatched away her tools and set to her own desk. Messengers soon entered the room in a never-ending chain. Aelen listened to the instructions, out of herself. The big day was drawing near apparently. She hoped Ellana would be fine.

* * *

In the Stormy coasts, the rain was pouring, unforgiving, on the small shoulders of the young herald. Lots of people had been recruited on that day again, a few rifts closed, and she was left with nothing else to do but going back to town once more. Maybe for the last time. Everything was getting prepared, it was coming. The moment of truth to see whether she was truly jut a fraud or could lead a rising nation against the desperate future she'd visited. She asked to stay there though, just for a moment, a few hours, as long as she was allowed. Her gaze lost on the wide sea unrelenting.

« What’s on your mind ? » she who had seen this terrible outcome of hope lost to failure, who had sacrificed everything to try to avert it from happening, she who had seen him one year later, cornered into such desperation. He hadn’t been able to do anything in this future. Without his anchor, Corypheus had won the whole Thedas over. Solas wondered if it was already too late for him, for his people. Was there still a chance at all ? He was feeling empty. He wondered if his older self did say anything of relevance to her.

« … » She turned to him. « Solas. » She hadn’t got any sleep as most of them. She was in the deepest distress. « I can’t afford to fail. » Red eyes. Shivering. « If I die, it’s all over. » She walked to him a bit. « Solas, » a bit more « I’m their only hope… Everyone… Everything. » She dropped her arms. « I can’t face her anymore. I will never forget... »

A picture of Aelen floating in the middle of a giant red cristal, holding firmly onto the key she’d given her, whole body torn apart by lyrium, angry, eating her away. She felt like puking. She fell to the ground.

He kneeled down next to her, ‘I truly understand, I assure you’, he would have said, but he couldn’t. There was no way he could explain this without giving it away somehow, he thought. But in this moment, their hearts were aching of the same broken miserable song, the world hanging on your bare shoulders. He was deeply moved by this small elf struggling, overwhelmed by the burden weighing on her head, bending her frail back.

« We are in this together. » he managed to say, and hugging her gently. « Lethallan. » She was his one and only hope as well, it appeared. And he had grown a little friendly to her, this interesting soul, tragically facing such a capital fate because of him. He should have born her mark, he should have handled Corypheus himself, but he was too weak, and thus these circumstances. He felt so very sorry. He had to give everything to protect her, at all costs, or everything would be lost and her sacrifice in vain. All of this because of his stupid self thinking giving his orb away was such a good idea out of haste. A deep pain stung his heart, it became hard to breathe.

She looked at him, crushed by pressure and sorrow. By duty. His kind, reliable presence. Even funny at times. Where would she be if not for Solas, truly.

She kissed him.


	14. Stress

Shut away to her herald duties, Ellana truly never went back to their tent. She had started having violent nightmares and was staying there every night, Solas taking extra care of her. During the day she was out deep in the fields to get everything prepared for the mission. They locked eyes once, but the elf quickly averted hers. Aelen understood that she was really avoiding her and didn’t make it any harder than it already was. Varric had been right : she needed the space.

She decided to put all her might into her drawings. The only thing she was good at. Maybe this would make her happy just a bit. She stared at her pile of inkings, her reference sketchbook. She took the small key in her hand. It was still there. It had been real, what they had.

More and more people were gathering in town. There was even a giant qunari now. They seemed non-threatening at least. It was getting really crowded around. She heard they were about to go on an expedition to close the breach. As soon as everything was over, she would drag her dalish friend back to their forest on some huge, deserved vacations, and she would allow noone there to give her any crap at last.

She was saddened though, lonely. Everyone was interacting with Ellana just fine but her. Especially the elves, Solas and Sera. They were important people doing important, mattering things. Strong and reliable. She was envious.

She eventually approached Solas to ask about her.

* * *

Solas was idling, thinking more exactly. Just like the first day, he had been tending to parts of the herald’s nights. So much had changed in this short span of time. He had won over the trust of everyone around, asking him for advice and knowledge all days long. He unexpectedly found himself almost at home, surrounded by respect and concern. A few feared him as an apostate, but since the arrival of numerous mages, he was just part of the place now. How long had it been, how many millenias ? Right as they'd found Alexius, his agents had found tracks of the Venatori organisation again. Corypheus was still alive after all, the orb in his hands, the elf was infinitely thankful for Ellana's presence at the conclave, or he would have seized the anchor aswell, and all would have been over. In the end, for the first time he would identify as _lucky,_ the luckiest.

As for Ellana, she was sadly entangled in a strong trauma. He had been watching over her again, this time from the fade, channeling the nightmares away. He had been able to see reflections of what she had witnessed there. The lyrium, the sky, his agonizing other self. Their sacrifice. It all had been no illusion. As days passed, the young elf was slowly growing colder, more distant more resistant, he could feel it. It was for the best. He couldn't afford to have her collapse now. But she was becoming a tiny bit like him and that he hated, wished upon no one. The least he could do was to appease her. Her who had kissed _him_ , most likely out of desperation, he assumed. He wasn’t indifferent to her, this tiny brave soul, unfortunate bearer of the anchor, curious of his magic, essential to the survival of this world, and thus the restauration of the right course of things. She was scared but moving forward, toughening, standing firm, decided to do everything she could. It was making his heart warm, giving him a tiny little piece of hope for himself, to see this being undertaking a similar path to his it had to be that this path was only the right, natural thing to do, so he worked to clear the dreadful dreams away. He wished he could create a veil bubble like Aelen seemed to, there was so much he wanted to know about this unique ability of hers but he hadn't got the opportunity yet. Shaping his veil as he pleased could prove so very useful in so many ways.

Speaking of whom, the girl appeared at his door. The opportunity.

« Hello. May I bother you ? »

« I wasn’t doing anything. Speak freely. »

None of his agents had anything to report on her since then. So far she was innocent and clueless. He secretly ran a spell though her. It didn’t find anything once again, but as it looped and came back, it was reduced to a whisper.

« It is about Ellana… I haven’t seen her in a while, is she doing alright ? I mean, not terrible ? »

« She is recovering slowly. She is doing her best. »

She lowered her gaze. « Of course she is… I hope she gets well soon. »

She didn’t know what to say anymore already, she felt stupid. She was about to turn around and leave when his voice broke through. « Wait. »

« I would like to seize this chance to spend some time examining you again. »

She had been able to escape from this for days but it had to come back. She wished he would just forget. She was too scared to know and didn't want to have anything to do with magic. She was not a dalish elf so would she even escape the circles and templars once the situation sets down ?

Meanwhile, Solas was feeling his small fade rock growing a bit warmer. He took it out of his pocket, stared at it, and handed it over to Aelen.

« Let us see if the Veil may have you again. »

« Is this a magic stone ? »

« Not exactly, it came from the fade to become real. I wonder if this little thing has anything to tell you. » he was hiding his excitement.

She looked at the small rock, quietly resting in her hands. Just like any other rock. But it was lukewarm. It had a feint green hue over the edges. She glanced at the man, staring at her, waiting. She averted her eyes back to the stone.

« I'll try. » A rock would speak to her. Maybe. She had already given up on the basic common sense she had learnt to believe in and closed her eyes, leaning against the door.

« There's a feeling… But it's very small. »

« Its connection to the fade is tenuous indeed. It must lack energy. Here. » In a motion he provided for mana, just a bit, but it was enough to immerge her in a vivid scenery. Solas appeared next to her.

« It worked. It's actually easy. » she was watching all around them. Green and blacks, colored moving mist.

« A vision of the fade. Which age is this, I wonder ? » there were numerous spirits. He knew he couldn't reach them from this unusual dream. He was nobody there, a mere bystander. This place was hers only. The veil folding in the corners of their presence. He was eavesdropping on a conversation between them, dancing around her form. This was not the crossroads, it was something different. It was peaceful. Nothing in particular was going on there.

« Could you think about something ? Anything ? »

The first thing that came to her mind was of course Ellana, she had never left it actually. The veil then drifted the dalish elf’s conscience towards them. The magic of healers coming by. Aelen patted her spirit lovingly, full of sadness and regret, of longing. Solas felt at this moment the fabric around them changing, allowing the magic to come steadier, more efficient, healing more.

« You _can_ affect the shape of the Veil. » This confirmed, he was moving his next interest. This girl could enhance and block magic, it appeared very clearly to him. An amazing support role to serve his purpose, definitely.

« What ? » What crazy things was he implying there again ? He was a skilled mage alright but… « Isn't that dangerous ? It's here for a reason right ? We can't just alter it, right ? You… know what you're doing, right ? »

To people, the fade, or _beyond_ , was just the realm of the dead and dreams, magic and demons. The veil was made by the creators or the maker to maintain harmony in the order of things. Little they knew the reason had actually been a desperate last resort in an alarming course of events.

« I do know all too well what it is I am doing. » He had said that with confidence, but the more he thought about it the faster and harder it stung him as an actual huge lie. It was painful. « Mostly. »

« Mostly ? »

« This is not about breaking the veil, it is about bending. As far as I have seen, this is exactly what you're doing through your _daydreams_. »

Oh no. « Am I ? »

« And you have not destroyed the world yet I believe. »

This was all very complicated to Aelen. And frightening. « What purpose is there in 'bending' the veil then... »

« Do you know how magic works ? You use the energies of the fade to alter reality in the way you want to, the way you were trained into. Now, affecting the veil, wrapping it tightly, stretching it, folding it softly, I assume this kind of ability should be able to model the flow of magic, making it harder or easier to pass through. Enforcing or softening its effects. Perhaps even completely nullify them. This could be of interest for _the inquisition_. » he insisted on the word  « All we need to do is to figure how this could work. »

« ...Right. » She was done. This was way out of her base of knowledge. It was a bit comforting to think that she could be able to get useful somehow but the fade stuff was just too much. She wanted nothing to do with that. And to think that her daydreams had been this dangerous. She had no idea and felt very stupid. « Good luck with this. » She lied and wished they would just never have to speak about it ever again. « I won't bother you any longer. Thank you for taking care of Ellana. » She bowed and left.

It seemed the girl was about as stressed by magic as the lady Sera, this wouldn’t make things easy for him. Was he really going to notify the Inquisition about this talent, he wondered. He would rather keep it to himself for the time being. Just quietly working to get it to an effective state. He stared at his small fade stone. This girl would need some convincing first of all.


	15. Sky

Ellana took a deep breath. Finally things were sorting out. She glanced at the walls of the war room, how long had she been there exactly ? Some water was filtering from a part of the ceiling, tiny droplets crashing on the stone floor. Next to her was Leliana, humming some probably-chantrist-song.

« Say, do you believe I’m the herald of Andraste ? »

She stared at her. « It doesn’t matter who you _are_ , all that matters is what you’re _doing_. And I can assure you you’re most likely acting like a saviour to us all. We’re blessed to have you here taking charge of everything. You’re someone I could follow, you’ve got this strenght. »

A crow flew to her.

« Wow. » She paused « I hope I will live up to that. Thank you I guess. »

« You’ve been relentlessly doing all this work with us. We all trust you now. Let’s get this breach closed at long last and savour our victory. »

« Is everything all set ? »

Leliana was reading the small piece of paper she’d recieved. « The last groups are sending their OK’s. »

« Let’s tell everyone we’re getting it done tonight then. »

They nodded to each other. The spymaster added : « What about getting some sleep beforehand ? As much as we appreciate a _dedicated_ _leader_ , please don’t get yourself burnt out before the grand finale. We need your power until the last moment. »

Contemplating her red hair hanging down her cheeks, Ellana got lost a little on her advisor. She thought about Redcliffe. She was alive right now at all because of her. She couldn’t help but think about her sacrifice, all the time. This had made her a little extra close to her spymaster. She knew she could trust her, definitely. She’s proven she’d do absolutely anything.

She was at a loss for words a bit. She took Leliana’s shoulder softly. « Thank you for everything. » She was surprised but returned the gesture. « Hang in there, holy one. »

With this, the dalish was off to her nap.

What was life about ? Most likely about connections. Relationships entangling people around, getting together for causes, fighting beside each other, having one another’s backs, taking care of them, licking each other’s wounds. These meaningful relationships she never had within her family. This inquisition was growing into one, slowly, her little pack she kind of wanted to protect at all costs. She looked over Haven.

She bumped into Aelen because she had to, at this moment. She tried to look at her, but couldn’t. There was this bitterness down her throat.

« Ellana... »

Aelen lifted an arm in despair, she knew it. But, even after this inner talk about connections and stuff, she surprised herself with these dark, bitter feelings, some hurt, she was actually losing her temper at this second, she couldn’t control anything, this reaction, « No ! » she whispered on a broken, deep note. She was shaking, stepped back. Aelen could only watch it all happen and the dalish hated it, every part of it. She is, she was her friend, damnit. But she couldn’t, it was way too hard, at this moment, she couldn’t bear.

She couldn’t bear to see her.

She fled quickly, pressing her eyes shut. She felt tears forming. So much for caring about people, seeing herself shuting down her most treasured friendship was… She didn’t know what to do with herself. She could just hope it would get away after she’s dealt with the breach, hopefully. Everything was going to turn back to normal for sure.

Aelen watched her runing away silently, remorseful. She had screwed up again, acting too fast, why was she always so stupid she wondered.

She sobbed staring at the snow under her feet.

* * *

Solas grabbed his underwhelming staff and armor : it was time. The herald had summomed them all before the gates to leave to the Temple of sacred ashes at once. He was to lead the crowd of mages. He wondered, what would the fade feel like, with so much magic overflowing at once right under the hole in the veil ? He was thrilled but also anxious, there was no guarantee this would succeed at all. He decided to believe though. As long as it hadn’t screwed up, it had not screwed up _yet_. And off he went. A tevinter mage, a court enchantress, and dozens of lost souls, forward to the huge crater at the top of the big mountain towering in front of them. Right before them, the Herald and her guard.

A few wandering demons were in the way, nothing to worry about, except for him, thinking about his spirit friends, hoping again that they had been spared and well.

Everyone was bracing themselves for their great final mission.

And it was over before they could even blink. Just like that, the mark glowing in the air, mages pouring their mana into the spell, Solas desperately giving his whole self out. In a mere 10 seconds, it was actually done, closed, sealed, the sky full as brand new, as if nothing had happened, no fighting, no nothing. Some remnants of green light, some uneasiness in the fade, that was all. Healed.

Nobody was actually believing it had been so easy, way too easy. The first confusing minute passed and the people finally gave in to their longing euphoria. Solas was staring at the young dalish in amazement. She had made it so easy, she made everything very easy actually. How was she managing so well at everything ?

Said girl was barely holding on her knees, and he offered his arm in support.

« It’s… over ? »

« You did well, lethallan. »

She leaned on his shoulder a bit. « Wow. Thanks... for your help with all of this. »

« Your thanks can come later, you need to rest first. Come. »

The whole little army made their way back to Haven in glee, and were met with equal cheerfulness from the commoners there. It was decided instantly that a giant party would be thrown right away. Ellana waved weakly at the crowd and hurried to… She didn’t dare going to her tent, it wasn’t much hers anymore… She was afraid of finding Aelen there. Her hurt would go away eventually now that all was well for good, but not just right now. So she asked to get to some roof instead, because she needed the air, and she wanted to stare at this big nicely fixed cloudy montain sky forever. They climbed over the elven stash, because it was quiet and separated from everything else.

People were dancing and cheering, bliss was taking over town. Why did she feel this way though ? A heaviness in her heart, the anchor rooting her to the surface, confused thoughts all over.

Solas was bracing himself for Corypheus to take action as his plans had been averted, but he was careful to hide his worry. « What is the matter ? »

« … I think I just need a moment. » because to her, this restlessness was kind of irrational.

In the distance the red lyrium armies were approaching ever so quietly, waiting for night to fall in just another hour. All the corrupted lyrium had an influence on the fade and the anchor resonated to this. Ellana had no clue of how to read it.

« Do you hurt ? »

« No, I’m okay. »

Silence fell upon them. She looked at him, the back of his ears, his shoulders slowly moving to his breathing. He was sitting legs crossed, head nested over his fingers, gracious and strong. Calm but with that odd, powerful presence. He was apeasing her just by being here by her side, he had always been ever since they met.

She thought about the kiss, how she had needed it, how it had made her worries go away for a short moment, and she suddenly longed for another one. He had made no mention of it at all yet. She sat up.

« So what will you do next ? Go back to the apostate ways ? »

« I could hardly I believe. I made quite the impression, it seems they won’t let me leave this easily now. »

« Right, you got everyone into your pocket just fine, very impressive, now there are all these admirers to handle. What about running away by night ? »

He turned to her. « Running away, with you ? »

She stared at her feet. Geez, sweet talker. She had not thought about her tagging along… It was tempting. No more nothing, only visiting lost ruins with the mysterious elven crush. She sighed. He would be like totally reliable, would he not ?

« Is this an offer ? Because I’m not sure I’d actually refuse you know. »

« Sorry, I am teasing. I need to stick around for a little more, to make sure... the fade has properly recovered. » he made up. « And I have plenty of notes to write about fade magic, that a few scholars are highly expecting. I cannot rest just yet. »

« That’s a shame. »

« You could still run away with your little companion. She misses you greatly. »

« Urgh. » She felt sick all of a sudden, hairs standing on her skin. What was this feeling of... panic now ? She shook her head. « Okay nevermind I can’t leave before the advisors allow me to anyway. There’s still way too much stuff ongoing with the inquisition and they kind of need me to deal with everything now. I made a nice impression as well apparently. » She still had her plans to take advantage of her position of power, she still had them… But she had this pinning exhaustion within. And the anchor was feeling weird, and she was still shaken from the mention of Aelen. She held her head in her hands and softly groaned in despair.

Solas patted her head.

She threw her arms around him.

« It’s true you’re needed. Don’t you leave without telling, alright ? » she uttered.

* * *

Solas had been watching over her, followed her on some roof of her liking, somehow the one that was sheltering his elven agents. They were aware of his dramatically close presence and hiding their urge for assistance.

Above them, the sky was grey, a clear grey, blueish. No more green, no more fade castles, no more magic thunder, no more ripped veil. It was whole again, silent, spread wide over Thedas.

The little one beside him stared at it for a moment, but she was troubled, he knew, and ended up staring at _him_. Not so long later, he was resting in her arms somehow. Unexpected but pleasant but unsettling. What were her feelings, he wondered, and blushed a bit at himself for having thought about such an irrelevant thing while the world was at stake. He put himself together promptly. She was confused, she needed him to show her the way towards duty, that was all there was to it.

« Do not fear, I am not going anywhere before it is all over. »

Speaking of which, alert was given that an army was drawing near. The sun had been setting just then. It had come so soon.


	16. Escape

The party had been interrupted by a ghostly boy, hundreds of black forms were walking in line towards the town. Aelen had just been finally relaxing with Nyhrin and other acquaintances listening to cheerful songs when she was suddenly thrown inside the chantry again. Weren’t they getting any moment of peace anymore ? She was shivering. Maybe they were just friendly people ? Maybe they were reinforcements from Ferelden or whatever to deal with the breach or something ? She knew it was hopeless, but she was tired and angry and desperate.

Chantry people were directing them to the back of the place. Thankfully her tent had been very close, and she got the time to retrieve her backpack. She needed something to hold onto. Inside was her small box filled with nibs and coal. It was reassuring. She wished madly for things to turn out alright and was answered with great screams and metal sounds from the other side of the wall. Haven was at war again.

Little by little, people were coming through the gate. Wounded people, also burnt people. There was fire outside now. That annoying chantry man collasped on the ground, badly hit, and the strange boy who had sent the alert knelt beside him right away. Thanks to him, they were able to get most people into safety before the attack had started.

Her heart skipped a beat when the advisors and party members of Ellana appeared, only her missing. She hoped to her feet and ran to them.

« There’s a hidden path, we can escape, Lord Roderick will show the way. » « We need to move, quickly. »

She tried to say something but was pushed forward firmly. She still managed to grab Solas’s passing arm. His expression was shattered.

« ...E...Ellana… Where... »

He silently took her hand and dragged her along to the tunnel with everyone else. « There is no time. » A terrifying groar resonated in the stone.

The biting frost of the mountain seized them as they stepped outside of the cavern. A dragon was flying over the burning town. The girl was speechless at the nightmarish vision. Then a huge rock flew in the air and the nearby mountain entirely collapsed on what was remaining of their stashes. All of them.

There was nothing left. The dragon backed away and silence fell upon the whole region.

Everyone stopped for a moment.

Aelen started to cry.

Solas held her and they kept going, there was no turning back, they had to find a safe place to settle before the cold killed them off. It was very real, all very real. He had stupidly lost his anchor again. Was the dalish still alive ? He had no idea. He would scream. Some agents were sending him worried looks, he couldn’t fall apart in front of them. He had to pull a tough front. It’s just pretending, he would manage that. There was hope, with Ellana dead, Corypheus had lost his key to the black city as well. It was not all lost just yet, not just yet… He held onto this thought, and onto the girl’s shoulder to keep her walking. The poor thing.

Everyone was well aware that they had most likely lost their shepherd, because that was who she had become to them. A small dalish girl, a nobody thrown in jail on the first day, fallen from the breach, bearer of the mark. Everyone was lost without their chosen of Andraste. And they were walking forward, in the stormy freezing night of the frostback mountains, struggling for their warmth, skin and eyes burning, tears turning to ice on their cheeks. There were children among them. It was a disaster.

When Leliana had decided they went sufficiently far, she ordered to set camp. The inquisition had always kept an emergency set of tents in the chantry, thankfully. They set the wounded on little bedrolls, managed to build a fire, sheltering it from the wind as they could, and everyone nested together around it, praying for safety.

Aelen was fully separated from herself. It hadn’t been the first time she thought of her friend dead, but this time…

She held onto her small key. Their chest was probably crushed by now. She thought about her drawings, half of them were probably burnt by now. She thought ab-

« How do you do that ? » it was the skinny blue-eyed boy.

« Wha... »

« You make me more real ! How do you do that ? »

« There you are » declared Solas, appearing from the side of her field of view. She threw a distressed look at him.

« Where are you ? Why is this happening ? My heart is going to explode, -HA- This hurt makes me feel more, how does this work ? » he tilted his head, his hat fell on the snow, he picked it back up. « I’m Cole. »

« And you’re a spirit, am I wrong ? How did you get here ? »

« I followed the hurt and here it lead me. » the boy answered in a whisper, looking from below.

« A spirit ? » Aelen was even more confused.

« Cole, you should not be here, it is dangerous for a spirit to cross the veil. We apologise for the great disturbance there was in the fade but you must go back before you get corrupted. »

« I don’t want to go back. » he replied, frowning. « As long as people need me. As long as there is hurt to soothe, I will be here if you would have me. »

« Compassion ! » Solas lit up. « How rare. It’s wonderful. » but then his eyes catched Aelen’s stare from the corner. He coughed briefly. « The distress of the people here attracted a spirit of compassion, and it felt your influence on the veil immediately. This is what is happening. » Cole nodded in the background, happy.

Whatever, she thought. Overwhelmed. The weird magic stuff was plainly coming for her now. She retreated closer to the fire, agonizing. She got lost in the chantry chants to make her forget about the sound of Solas iddly chatting with his new friend from afar. It didn’t matter at that time.

All that mattered was, and she clutched her bag, again. She was replaying the same act. Ellana was dead, and she was aching over, squeezing her backpack. She felt stupid, she felt unreal, was she actually dead already, dead at the conclave maybe, and she was cursed to relive her worst fear over and over again somehow ?

Roderick died at this moment, and people proceeded to his funerals immediately. Aelen wished she could hide away but there was absolutely nowhere to go, and thus she was forced to watch it happen.

* * *

A few days passed. Hope went away with them. They were lost, they were freezing, their supplies were going low, they had nowhere to go. Another night by the fire, windy, deadly night. A few more wounded people were gone and cremated along the way. Despair was digging as was hunger and inconscience. Even Solas could only let his exhaustion bare. There was only Cole who seemed ever so cheerful, hoping from one person to another, a faint presence, almost transparent.

That’s when she appeared, carried by soldiers. Her miracle. Ellana, alive.

People were screaming. The advisors fighting, the chantry chanting. Soon everyone knelt, Aelen did too. Only Solas stayed on his feet, Ellana and him stared at each other, and eventually walked away together a few meters when the unexpected ceremony was over.

« I am glad you’ve made it. Are you alright ? »

« Mostly. I am too. You have no idea how many tunnels there are under Haven. It’s a real maze underneath. »

Oh yes he did.

« So, tell me, what happened there ? »

« The plan whent somewhat perfect ? I distracted Corypheus, while setting for an avalanche. He had this red glowing ball of stone, a dragon, pretended he was one of the magisters who set foot into the black city. What do you think ? »

« It could be. He has tremendous power. As for this ball, I could catch a glimpse of it, it is most likely elven. »

« Great, now shems are going to accuse us. »

« Exactly, we should keep this a secret for now. »

« So, what are we gonna do now ? He’s got us bad, we’ve lost everything on that attack. »

« We have lost much, but we still have our burning fire ». Solas lit a veilfire torch. Pretty. « And we have you. You have no idea how precious you are to them. Well, you probably do have an idea by now. »

She thought about the kneeling and chanting. Alright. She sighed.

« Okay. Play time is over. If I did survive this, I can survive anything. We need a place to settle in first. Can’t you, like, find anything in the fade ? Does it work like this ? »

He chuckled. « It does. There is an ancient elven castle not so far away from here. It seems long forgotten. We should try heading that way. »

She took his hand. « Lead me. » Firm grip, intense stare.

* * *

Aelen was staring from the distance. These two were close. Ellana was definitely not alone on this journey without her. She was comforted, but took a few steps in longing. Only a word, she just wanted, a word.

Ellana saw her and the girl froze in her wet boots. Did she go too far ? She was drowning in anxiety all over again. But the dalish actually came closer and drew a hand to pat Aelen’s head.

« It’s ok, I got this. I’m going to make _Coryshit_ bite the dust. »

They smiled at each other, finally reunited after what had felt like eternities.


	17. Shaping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reaching Skyhold !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brackets are elvhen ! No I didn't try to pull it off.

Thunder was striking relentlessly, the rain pouring hard. An obsidian globe shining green madly, hands extended towards it, throwing as much mana as they could inside.

[Come on, it has to work!]

The vibration was echoing through the stone walls and grounds. Covered in blood. The clash in the sky deafening. Mind going blank.

[I can’t fail now! Please I beg you!]

War cries thrown all over the place, right at the other side of the door. In the small room : an elf, alone, drained to exhaustion, but it still wanted _more_. The door opened violently and another elf ran inside.

[It’s hopeless, we’re losing!]

He groaned, just a little more… it’s… it’s …

A huge deflagration suddenly tore the air apart.

Solas’ eyes snapped open.

* * *

A nightmare, he shouldn’t have expected any less from sleeping at Skyhold again. The place where he had held the skies on that day through the sacrifice of hundreds. He was sitting in the garden. The road to the castle hadn’t been easy but they managed to move their meager remainings there just fine somehow. Everyone was settling down quickly and big decisions were already taken at the ancient magestic war room. Millenias later, the place was still full of magic and memories, and in relatively good shape. Ha. The only place he could have called home at all. He ended up coming back. Solas had very mixed feelings about this.

The room to the eluvian was still sealed firmly, only him knew how to reopen it so far. Everything was going fine.

He pressed his fingers against his nose and shut his eyes hard. This dream had been very upsetting. He needed to calm down quickly. Emotions were only an obstacle to clear thinking. He would almost request tea to wipe his mind off. Almost. Now was not the time, as the whole inquisition was struggling to fall back on its feet as good as it could.

« There you are. » The herald. « Get ready, we’re going ASAP. »

« Already back to work, are we ? Where is our next mission ? »

« Just around the place, scouts have spotted rifts nearby on the way, and we could meet the people in the villages down the mountain, also make sure the world know we’re still here and we’re not done fighting. »

« You should probably go easy on your troops, it has been a long way. »

« Lady Herald ! » they were interrupted. « The Lady Seeker is requesting you in the courtyard. »

« Coming. » and Solas followed along. There was just no time.

* * *

So big, so intimidating, and very cold. Skyhold, as Solas and now everyone called it, was a _real_ castle. It was isolated from everything, far up the highest mountains, only accessible through a magestic bridge. It was broken at parts but most of it felt sturdy, it was still good despite looking forsaken since forever.

The advisors had fully taken charge, ordering stuff around to get everything set promptly, everyone was given a place and rôle, rooms were allocated, cleaning up already starting. Everyone except the little Aelen, who was left to her own devices in the middle of this cheerful turmoil. She was sad but grateful at the same time. All of it was… A bit too much for her right now. She put her backpack over her shoulders and started slowly visiting what would become their new headquarters for the time being. It was nice, impressive, and already warming up as fire glyphs were placed on every wall. There was a library upstairs, mostly empty as they had saved very little in their escape. There was a garden, lots of big empty rooms. There was a beautiful view out the windows. But mostly, there was this feeling of safety. This had nothing to do with wooden stashes. This was reliable, this was comforting.

« I agree. People will be alright here. The hurt will go away for sure. I’m glad. »

Blonde boy. About her age. Very tall and skinny, very soft. But she was startled nonetheless.

« I’m sorry, it’s okay, don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay now. »

« Wha... »

He disappeared, almost. But she could keep track of him somehow. So he was a spirit, was it ? Why did he look so _human_  ? Was that an abomination ? He turned to her.

« It’s weird, you’re not supposed to see me now. » He danced a few steps, and was strangely happy to see her gaze follow him closely. But then he ran to some other place, busy, up to his precious trouble. She saw him pass by covered in cats a minute later.

She didn’t get the time to think : a lot of people appeared in the courtyard all of a sudden. At the top of the stairs to Skyhold, Cassandra. Ellana soon popped out of the great door behind her. Everyone fell silent. In a solemn tirade, she was sacred Inquisitor and everyone bowed to her. If she was still drawing illustrations, she would make sure to trace this one on a poster as well.

« We are the Inquisition » the dalish said, « _Never again shall we submit_. An elf will lead you all on this journey to victory ! We will show the world ! »

She lifted her ceremonial sword to the sky and the crowd cheered dramatically, and then everyone was back to their duties in the highest spirits.

* * *

Back into the castle, the newly named Inquisitor was still followed by her elven advisor.

« A fine speech. Congratulations. » he was thinking. Could he perhaps recruit both of them girls into his organization ? The possibility had just stiken him.

« Why thanks. » she had already been taking every decision anyway, this was only making it official. « Now that it’s done we can get back to work. I need you by the entrance in thirty minutes, just the time to gather everyone. »

« Very well. »

She stormed out to the stairs.

This elven girl seemed to be handling power just fine, she was turning into a stunning leader. It was strange for him to feel so proud of a modern Thedas native. There was this inner excitement, he was getting more and more curious, and he remembered the kiss too. Ideas were slowly coming to his mind and joy reaching his lone heart for once. It was _something_. This inquisitor. He was thinking as he retrieved his weak staff and mantle. He had this sensation of confidence, standing beside her. She was shaping his world anew. Rebuilt from scratch, filled with hope and wonder. Would she actually be able to defeat Corypheus ? He was starting to believe. The people had come victorious off even worse circumstances, that he could tell. Her strenght, her radiance, could probably withstand anything, relying on his own assistance. What could they achieve, working together ? Maybe a whole new universe where everything was right... Solas was getting lost in thoughts.

* * *

Nyhrin was having one of these secret meetings with their agent companions, speaking in code. Lord Fen’harel had declared the fade unusable for the time being and they had to adapt. It was causing them great difficulties but there was nothing to do about it, so better take it upon themselves and move forward. So they did.

Their chief had directed them to an old secret library underground that was most likely to take some time before it was discovered, so they were safe for the time being, still a few agents were keeping watch nearby for Leliana not to undercover them all just like that. They could still pretend to be cleaning up the place, which they were for the sake of cover. The old library was ever so dusty and covered in cobwebs that it would take them actual weeks, it was the perfect spot.

They were taking turns to lay their reports. A few of them remained to convey the critical bits to everyone.

The Venatoris had been moving fast. They were mining lyrium out in every region. They had a castle in the Emprise du lion, where they were abducting people as well as in Crestwood, and they were setting camp all over the Hissing wastes. Not to forget that something was going on with the grey wardens. Their rôle would be making sure that the inquisition would _accidentally_ discover all of this by itself. With the right messages left at the right places, the right testimonies at the right moment. And keep digging. Knowledge is power, Solas’ guideline.

Then, dispersion. They all went back to the first floor in groups. Them elves were ever as transparent, and it went alright. One person did notice Nyhrin though, and it was Aelen. They sighed innerly and smiled to her.

« What’s up falon ? »

After the big ceremony, the team had disappeared through the entrance, headed to duty, and Aelen had been lost ever since, burried amidst the busy crowd, orders yelled in every direction, people carrying the most random things everywhere, Cole running after chicken and whatever (?), soldiers doing soldier stuff, healers healing, cooks cooking with the food a few merchants had already provided (how did they get there so fast even?) and the girl was left alone in the middle of all of that, unsure of where to set foot. She was desperately looking for an anchor, and with Ellana so distant she was left with none. Thus she was reaching to the only other person she knew : them.

« Hey… Could we… hang out for a minute ? »

« Sure. » Nyhrin waved to their comrades and approached her. « Let’s go elsewhere first. »

People had been avoiding the bits of the castle that didn’t have fine roofs, because it was freezing and that was the last thing they needed after that painful walk through the frostback mountains. It was uncomfortable but at least there was no one there. It did a lot to calm the girl, who hadn’t realised in what distress she had been.

« Thank you… You always know what to do with me… I wish I would too... » she sighed.

« It’s noisy the first days but stuff _will_ settle down soon, don’t worry. »

There was a silence. Heavy. She wished she could just forget how grieving she was. She curled up in a corner. Nyhrin sat right next to her and patted her head gently.

« How’s your drawing going ? »

« I… Don’t know, I’ve lost everything that wasn’t in Joséphine’s crate anyway. When I think about all this work… Aahh »

« It’s alright. Everyone know you worked hard. They will understand. »

« Mmfrph. » she hid her head in her arms and leaned against them.

Nyhrin couldn’t help but give her a hug.

« Fine, no drawing for now. » they said eventually. « We elves are about to put together great hangings to cover the holes and windows as soon as the fabric comes by. Feel like helping out ? »

The girl looked at them and smiled a bit. « I don’t know if I can sew… The clan never ask me to. »

« It’s very easy, c’mon. Easier than lifting boxes. »

« Alright. Thanks. »

« They are assigning rooms, we elves got some neat place underground, it’s going to be easily warmed and all. I’ll show you. You can visit anytime. Although you’re probably gonna get some neat place of your own and all. »

« I’m… not sure about that. » She had tears in her eyes again. « My relationship with Ellana is… complicated now. We’ve never been so distant, it’s getting better but… We really don’t talk anymore. I’m terrified. What am I going to do if... »

« No. » They tapped a finger against her forehead. « No overthinking. Nothing happened yet, you didn’t even have a fight so there’s no use predicting the worst now. » for _commoners_ at least, they thought about the organization and how it always ended up with the worst case scenario somehow. She looked pretty much like a commoner to them. For now. The magic stuff could change a lot of things, but it hadn’t happened yet.

« Let’s see which room they’re giving you. » they stood up and extended their hand to her. She took it and onwards they went. To the requisition staff.


	18. Home

« Neat ! » Nyhrin said, impressed.

Aelen had been assigned a small servant room right next to Ellana’s quarters. « You got your own lil space, lucky you. »

« Yeah... » She was glad she wasn’t to share rooms with the new Inquisitor. That would have been awkward, probably painful. It was too still too early. She thought about the intimacy that was lost, so easily. They used to share a tent not so long ago…

« Are you okay ? »

« Ah. I’m fine… I’m thankful for this room… You can come visit me anytime if it gets too crowded out there. » She hesitated a moment and added « I like being with you. »

« Why, sure. You’re gonna make me blush, milady. »

« It’s not this special… I just. I’m sorry, I’m kind of… lonely, I think. I’m being a bother, please ignore me. »

She put her backpack in a corner. The room was still mostly empty. Furniture was on its way, and a bunch of stuff was getting crafted. It could arrive anytime soon. She stared in space. That was hers. Great. She was sulking.

« I’m sorry I wasn’t making you uncomfortable on purpose. There, there. » they patted her back. « It’s going to be a very nice place, soon you’ll feel at home, I will visit you and we will have tea parties or whatever, anything you want. And you’re not bothering me. » As keeping an eye on her was, in fact, part of their mission now. She could be a precious ressource to the lord Fen’harel, Nyhrin needed to get as close to her as possible to keep watch and protect her if needed.

« Thank you… But don’t they need you ? For work and stuff... »

« Everyone is volunteering here, there’s no obligation. And taking care of each other is a critical job for survival. »

She smiled at this. It was comforting.

« You always take great care of me, thank you very much. » The agent nodded in response, peaceful. « I keep rambling but I know almost nothing about you… I realise that. Could you tell me a bit ? I wish I knew you better. You’re so kind to me. »

« Hah, what a strange shem you are. You’re sweet, girlie. Falon. I’m afraid there’s not much to say. I was a city elf and I decided to go see the world outside of the gates. I eventually ended up in Haven where I started helping around. There was this nice crowd of elves, I blended in and haven’t left yet. That is all. »

Aelen leaned against the wall.

« Are you thinking about leaving ? »

« I don’t know. The inquisition is all big and important, it’s good to be _involved in a cause_. I think I’ll stick around a lil longer. »

« I’m glad. » she said softly. « I’ll be so lost without you. I mean even more lost than I am. Do you have a family back in the city ? Which city ? Don’t you miss them sometimes ? »

« It’s okay. They know I needed the space. I’ll go back eventually, probably. I don’t know. I’ll go back there when I’ll have built _a decent present to_ _live in_ _with them_. Figure out my life, etc. »

« You sound like such an adult. »

« We are adults, aren’t we ? How old are you anyway. And your dalish friend ? »

« I’m 20 and she’s 19. »

« I knew it. You look so much younger though, both of you little princesses. I mean in a good way. You two are like the sun and moon. I hope you can make up soon by the way. You were so cute together. »

« I hope too… I don’t know. I’m scared. »

« I get it. I may talk to her for you if necessary. What about that ? »

« Oh nonononono I don’t want her to think I’m talking behind her back or anything… Am I doing just that ? »

« You’re not. You just need to reach out to someone and she’s not there for you at the time being. You’re not doing anything wrong. »

« If you say so... »

Aelen was staring at them. So patient, how could this be ? They didn’t even actually know each other. How could she be blessed with such caring out of nowhere ? She didn’t even have anything to give in return, now that her relationship with Ellana was going through a hard stage. She was just so grateful for this moment and wished it would never stop, that she would never be alone in this small room. That…

« Say… Would you like to actually share this room ? I mean, maybe you want to stay with your friends and all, and I understand that. I just... » she realised how big was the proposition, and probably how annoying it was as well, what if they agreed out of obligation ? « Please do tell me if you don’t want to, I’m not giving you any orders… I’m not… One of these shems that boss elves around, I promise. »

« I know, Falon. I will think about it but lemme tell you that I _am_ interested. This place they’re craming us all into is a bit narrow, so they could use the space I’d leave open there. I need to talk to them about it, if they happen to need me, I’ll stay there if you don’t mind. I could hardly invite you over again for the same reason, too crowded, I’m sorry. »

« No that’s okay, I’ll be waiting. Thank you. »

« Are you alright if I go now ? »

« ... » Aelen stared at her boots. « Yes, thank you for the company, I’ll do my best from here on. See you tonight maybe ? »

« Tonight maybe, friend. »

* * *

It was hard to hide their contentment as they went downstairs to meet with the crew and report. Everyone agreed that it was an A+ opportunity and congratulated Nyhrin on going this far. The whole Human Girl issue was assigned to them alone then. They still couldn’t believe it, for an actual shem to invite one of them into their bedroom and without sexual or serving underlying. Elven blooded people weren’t always like this. Far from it. This girl was good and the elf was glad for getting to spend some time with her. Sure, she was unsecure as heck and needed lots of tending, but that was such an easy job compared to the rest, it was ridiculous. They were wary though, that her ability was certainly going to bring trouble very soon. This missions needed careful eyes wide open, that they were good at. And head patting, lots.

The agent thought about this nice little story they made up. So much lying, yet so little. Would they ever have the privilege to get back to their family though ? Life in the alienage had been a nightmare and they followed the silent call of the Dread Wolf to escape and bring down this world of injustices, but all of them knew that most would be casualties in the process and very few live to see it done. Would their friends and families even survive as well ? No one could tell. These were big, terrible, unforgiving plans, that would bear no mercy upon their small existences. But they knew, and agreed to that. As long as shemlen were cast away and the great glory of the elves brought back anew, magic, immortality, wisdom, power. That would sure be something to see for their survivors. At long last.

Still, in the meantime, there was this unexpected forming friendship with the shem girl Aelen. These elf blooded people were rare, they decided to take advantage of their new position to dig a bit into this story. The inquisitor wouldn’t say the details to the boss. They figured out the agent had the highest chance of finding out at this moment.

Nyhrin gathered their belongings. This would be just like a big sleepover. It was a bit strange, staying together alone with a girl in the same room for a period of time. It would be sweet if it could bring some softness into their world for once. There was way enough drama already. She seemed sweet and uncomplicated, she was only anxious and needed some petting and that was all there was. Such an easy job truly.

The agents all spent the day cleaning the secret library to organize into their new stronghold one last time, before hiding any more would get dangerous, and they wished their goodbyes by evening, when the elf climbed the infinite stairs to the great tower again, ready to settle down.

Aelen burst in relief when she saw them coming. A bed and a table had popped in the room already. A simple bedroll laid on the wood plank for now. Nyhrin had their own bedroll under their arm, ready.

* * *

Rifts closed and inquisition banners set, the little troop came back to the castle a few days later, and everyone was given permission to rest at long last. They were safe, as much as they could possibly be. A few scouts were taking turns to keep watch over the area, which was very easy at the very top of a huge pile of stone and snow. Ellana was shooed away into her room to stop doing stuff and keep her body still for a moment. She had no intention of slacking off but her advisors wouldn’t let her do any more. She threw herself on the bed and hit the cushion that had been put there a short while earlier. She needed it, needed to keep busy, or else her brain would do her that displeasing stuff it had been doing for weeks.

She had been told her little Aelen was staying at the small room next door. The avoiding her had lasted long enough, she decided at that very moment. So she hoped on her feet again and made her way through the small distance before the entrance. There was noise on the other side, great, the girl was home. She opened the door wide to Aelen giving the biggest hug to some random elf. Ellana froze. So did the girl when she noticed her. It was bad, she knew. It was the worst, she knew. She was terrified.

« Lady Inquisitor, it’s good to see you’re back. » Nyhrin.

She said nothing, sent both of them a deadly stare and slammed the door back to closed.

« Did I say something wrong ? »

Aelen’s heart was struggling for pace.


	19. Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Minor suicidal thinking

Ellana flipped her table, bed, every single furniture there was in the room, she flipped them all. She kicked the wall, stomped the floor, screamed in the cushion. She couldn’t take it. She had to take it out. Her feelings crushed, her mind torn apart in rage. So that was what all her hard work lead her to ? Life was so unfair it was disgusting. She thought about jumping off the balcony to show her how it felt but she knew better. Her Aelen, _her_ Aelen. Getting all close to someone else when she was struggling to preserve their relationship ? How ungrateful could this chick be exactly ? Getting some quality time while _she_ was out there crying her heart out in trauma and shit. Stupid shems had no respect for nothing.

Thinking this made her calm down a bit and come back to reality. Aelen wasn’t a shem. She couldn’t let her brain tell her this specific thing, it was wrong.

She collapsed over the flipped bed and cried an ocean. Why did it have to be so hard ?

All of a sudden, she longed for Solas and his comforting, reliable aura. It seemed he had become her beacon through darkness.

« He would come over if you asked. »

Cole, but she didn’t know about him yet. There hadn’t been time for introductions. She jolted aside.

« W-Who, whAt are you doing here ?? »

« I’m Cole and I am here to help. Let me help. Your hurt is sharp. »

« No ! Get away from me ! How did you enter ? GUARDS ! » She was freaking out.

Cole was trying to do his hypnosis thing but was forced to escape as soldiers stormed inside.

« Intruder ! » one yelled. And soon all Skyhold was at war.

The spirit escaped easily with his powers but quickly found itself unable to work anymore. People were panicking because of him now. Word of assassins spread in a minute, and he had to fly away to the rotunda to reach a helping hand.

« Solas ! I have done a mistake ! »

« Cole. I am glad you are alright. Tell me what happened. »

« The assassin is me. Though I did not kill anyone. Not this time. I am not a demon yet please believe me. »

« I do believe you. What did you do to get Skyhold on such alert ? »

« The Inquisitor mistook me for the ennemy… I… I did not want to scare her. How do I say sorry now ? Please help me. »

Cole was desperate, Solas sighed deeply. Pressed his fingers against his eyebrows. « How do we fix this. It is not your fault, she has been very exposed, it is only natural for someone unused to spirits to react this way at such a time I guess. »

He walked a few steps.

« There are so many new people entering the inquisition, they are going to be in trouble. »

« I’m sorry. I’m sorry. » he rocked back and forth.

« Very well, I believe you should hide for the time being. I will personally introduce you to everyone once the panic has settled down. Stay away for the time being. It is going to be alright, I promise you. »

« Thank you... » he faded away, the head low.

Solas fell on his chair and put his forehead on the table. People now were just _so_ wary of spirits it was _depressing_.

* * *

None of this had reached Aelen’s small room where the two of them were busy with a whole other issue.

« I don’t understand, what happened just now ? »

Aelen knew in her heart but it was hard to form into sentences. She somewhat belonged to Ellana, it had been a silent truth between them ever since-… The girl never truly had any other friend, she was content with her relationship. Ellana was protecting her, and she was supporting her as much as she could in return. She understood that she had just betrayed this all over. That she had screwed up bad, and that there was a possibility that she hated her now.

Tears wouldn’t stop coming.

Nyhrin got her seated. She needed to calm down first, catch her breath back. What they’d seen had been the inquisitor entering the room without knocking, staring coldly at them having their comforting hug and totally losing her cool. What the heck was that. How possessive did one need to be for it to get that bad that fast ?

« I will talk to her, it’s okay, she will understand. Breathe. »

The girl stared at them, confused. « You will ? » she said in a strangled noise.

« I will. »

She hid her small face into her hands.

« Know that you did absolutely nothing wrong, ya hear me ? » they patted her back again and again.

They slept together on that night, Aelen was inconsolable. It took them forever to finally fall asleep. They spoke about the little life of the elves within the inquisition and how mostly decent it had been. The girl was glad for this. Having an elven leader made a lot to improve their condition. Most of them had still be serving as that was the only thing they could do, but some were promoted to the library, to the infirmary, even to the battlefield. There were a few dalish elves among them already, and they had blended in nicely. Everything had been fine until the end of Haven. Things hadn’t changed in Skyhold, everyone went back to their diverse places and all was good for a start. At that moment, the story had lulled her into sleep. Nyhrin stared at her. She looked so normal, so shemlen. Nobody suspected that such an important ability was lying inside, or she wouldn’t be treated that way, kind of like an useless decorative doll with connections. And what connection ? It seemed their dear inquisitor was the abusive type or something. It was minor information but they needed to report to the boss all the same.

* * *

« A spirit, you say. » Ellana was staring at the boy, wary.

« Yes. » Solas. « It means no harm, actually the exact opposite. This is a gift from the fade, he will be most useful. Please give him a chance. »

« Hm. » She considered.

« It’s a demon ! » Cassandra. Revolted. « Don’t let him rampage into the inquisition !! Solas are you out of your mind ? »

« Please do believe me. I can assure you there is no risk. »

« I won’t let myself turn into a demon. Was that to happen, I am counting on you to kill me right away. »

« … Are you sure about this ? » Cassandra was taken aback.

« Yes. »

« Solas. » Ellana declared, solemn. « Could you remind me why would we need a spirit for exactly ? »

« Compassion soothes the hurting hearts, it is very good for morale, and morale is everything in times of war. »

« Fine, but this is very serious. What guarantees do we have ? »

« You have my word for what it is worth. As your fade advisor it should be a little. »

« Okay. He might stay then. »

« I cannot approve of this. » Cassandra, stern.

« I get it, but I do trust Solas enough. He’s the expert here. »

« Thank you very much. » Solas bowed slightly.

« Fine. » Cassandra left, exasperated but understanding.

« Thank you ! » Cole was happy, back to usual. He left not long after, ready for his comforting mischief, back to helping everyone.

Ellana sighed, they held this conversation in her quarters, that she had taken the time to clean up after her little outburst. She sat at her desk. Solas was still there, alone in the middle of the room, staring at her focused.

« Well ? Is there anything else ? An abomination wishing for shelter ? A nug king wants to form an alliance or whatever ? I’m ready for anything now. Just warn us before Leliana sends the whole assassin team to look for trespassers. »

« Ha ha ha, come on. » He chuckled. « I am just very grateful and kind of happy with what you just did. Everything you’ve been doing so far. You understand the world in such a way that I have never seen before. »

« I thought you had seen everything though. You know, the fade. »

« The Fade is only half the world. And mine has changed greatly since I’ve entered the inquisition, since I’ve met you. »

« Your world… has changed ? » She was standing now.

« Ha. » he faltered away all of a sudden. « That was a figure of speech. »

« No. » She took his hand and they stared at each other hard. Before her eyes, the picture of Aelen flirting with another elf was dancing madly. And then, the kiss in the Stormy Coast. There was no guilt to feel here, it was only right. She had the right, after all she’d been through. She squeezed his hand a lot. It almost hurt, but Solas’ body was sturdy. She pulled it over and made him kiss her. Her other hand wandered behind his ear to make him stay. She had wanted this.

He had wanted this too somehow. He had no choice but to acknowledge at long last what had been happening between them. He embraced her, his anchor, his light, she had brought joy into his big sad life, she had given him fresh air, he didn’t want to leave at all any longer. Why not just enjoy this moment while it lasted, on their way to defeating Corypheus if they even succeeded at all ? He just wanted to be happy, just for once. He wanted to treasure it, to treasure her.

Their kiss was endless. It was a bit awkward at first when they pulled back. For the first time in days, Ellana’s heart was at peace. She didn’t want to let go and tightened her arms around him.

« You’re changing my world too. »

They both had little stars in the eyes when he eventually left the room. That was right, that was the joy she deserved after the hardships, that was someone who deserved her at last. Someone who wouldn’t betray her. Someone she could count on, she could fight along. She wished Aelen could go back to the clan already. Maybe she could send her there ? But she knew there was nothing for the girl there without her around. She truly had nowhere to go. Sigh. At least they could have not given her the room next door. But it was done now.

She folded a boring letter into a small yellow bird.


	20. What lies in the future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shamelessly spoiling the whole thing cause I'm never getting back to work on that one, aren't I.

Okay, Hello, tis me, the author.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read the story, this is the very first time I've written seriously and I am glad for that it taught me a ton of stuff about writing, and most of all : it taught me that this is not out of my league. I mean oF COURSE I am still a newbie and very clumsy at every single thing but this fic, to me, was the quest that allows you to unlock the new class of your rpg character. It is only after unlocking it that you can gather the EXP.

My goal with this last chapter is to tell whoever is invested with these characters everything I had intended to have happening to them ! So that I spare you the torture of endless cliffhanger, are you ready ? It is on !

First of all, Ellana and Aelen, this is the "same" name but in anagram. This was supposed to be important. The big idea was that Ellana had taken in Aelen when she still had "no name". She'd been hanging in a merchant's house, dude had been having an affair with a city elven girl but the Alienage was slaughtered one day, leaving only the lil kid alive as she blent in in the human population to escape. So merchant man felt a bit accountable and dragged her around, she was used to do chores and stuff but very neglected. At some point guy was pissed and dropped her in a situation that she wasn't supposed to survive, but the Lavellan clan happened to be nearby and Ellana found her as she was indulging in fine hunting. Everybody at the clan avoided her, she was tolerated as a pet of sorts as long as Ellana would feed her and not drag the clan down. Ellana was very proud of her trophy and they would always stick together.

A trophy

The whole point of my fic was to tackle the issue of unhealthy relationships. Aelen always belonged to Ellana and she was expected to be hers forever.

Ellana gets heralded, eventually goes to Redcliffe for the mage quest, she sees in the future that her girl had been agonizing for months because of her, she felt especially responsible and couldn't bear it. The whole world suddenly depended on her, literally, without her in the picture, everything was lost forever, btw even god-Solas had been useless to do anything and upon learning that he started to doubt everything and take great care of his anchor-bearer, which he had been interested in for their somewhat pleasurable conversations. Ellana is desperate, in search for someone to take care of her while she has to take care of the entirety of existence and lashes her emotions on Solas, kissing him. This brings her a bit of comforts and she starts to confront Aelen again, very mildly.

I wanted Ellana to gain a bit of confidence. Her deal with power was that she wanted to show the world that she was strong and relevant, not the dismissable da'len, and not a serving knife-ears. She was angry at everyone, the humans, her clan, the chantry, the mages, the templars, and Corypheus would pay for everybody first. So she was to get more and more in need for power, authority. She gets Orlais to sumbit to the inquisition in WEWH. She would eventually start losing herself, probably akin to the Evanuris. Solas starts to get wary and takes a step back, and the denial of previous attention gets her very upset. She takes revenge on poor Aelen, and this is where the abusive relationship gets to hard mode. Eventually she just harasses everyone, becomes a dictator. Solas ends up leaving the Inquisition as it has gone full corrupt, his countless spies would keep him posted and that would be it. But he does takes Aelen with him as he can't take to let an innocent suffer in submission to utter cruelty, just like the old days.

Ellana gets more and more alone, people would be scheming rebellion if her magic hand was not required for their survival. As soon as Corypheus is dealt with, the whole thing spirals further out of control, she's got assassins on her back and honestly, no one truly wants to protect her anymore.

Trespasser kicks in, Ferelden wants to obliterate Skyhold but surprise, Qunaris are about to invade blablabla you know the DLC. The advisors who are still somewhat around want to investigate, the Inquisition could prove useful again ! Morrigan, who pities her (a dalish thrown into power and politics at random, after all, guides her through the eluvians. There, she finds Solas and Aelen.

Aelen has some ability to fold and unfold the veil in all kinds of shapes. I wanted that to represent extensive daydreaming. It doesn't do much but it is a tiny ability that allows to strenghen magic, or weaken it. Solas used this in his plans™, so she went to obeying Ellana to obeying Solas (tis a bummer honestly). He just wants to do whatever must be done so he puts up with the morals as usual and rolls with it. Solas has been dealing with the Qunaris, throwing a corpse at Skyhold had only been to warn everyone of the danger and give an opportunity to the lil elf to redeem herself. He leaves a bit of space for both girls to hold one last exchange. Ellana says she's sorry for everything and that she please should forget everything about her and live on. (Ellana is thinking about giving up on life altogether). Aelen takes her hand and tells her that she had been in love with her the whole time, but that she would no longer seek after her, the relationship was beyond salvation. But she asks her to live on as she was the most wonderful person she had ever known. She tells her she would always remember her, and maybe love her forever.

The end.

 

Please don't hesitate to ask every question that would cross your mind, I believe that I am to stay on ao3 for a few more years at least !

If you liked this work, please check out my [In another world](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12535048/chapters/28545184) fanfic, which purpose was to address depression in particular, but which actually derails into all kinds of interesting and maybe unheard of sets of events !! I like it a lot ! And it's canon divergent for real !!

Thank you very much ! ♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for that I typed it all down in 30minutes and did not take the time to proof read before hitting submit


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